"for nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer, and by supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; " v. 6
About three days ago, I read a heartbreaking news report about a man in the province of Guangdong in Southern China who beat his daughter to death on a street in full view of the public. While beating the child, he scolded her for refusing to attend "night school" - a type of cram school where many students are forced to attend in order to improve their chances of passing university entrance exams in future.
The news report says that students in China face intense pressure to pass such "make or break" entrance exams in order to join the ranks of the educated strata of society. Such competitive pressure leads to very anxious parents who appear to have no choice but to force their children to undergo gruelling hours of study starting from a tender age.
The Chinese girl who died from such cruel treatment by her father was only nine years old!
This makes me think of my own country, even of my town where I have been living and working for the last twelve years, where parents are facing similar anxieties over the future of their children. I've come across many students who have been given no choice at all by their parents, but who instead have been forced to attend a string of tuition classes after school throughout the week, both in the day-time as well as at night.
One of them, a family friend's daughter, once pleaded with her mother saying, "I can't take it anymore. If you make me attend any more tuition classes, I will die . . ." . My wife tried unsuccessfully to persuade the mother to reduce the number of tuition sessions for her daughter. Her reply was typical, "We are not educated people. If she can't go to good schools and universities in future, will you be responsible?"
It appears that parents everywhere are anxious. So anxious that, they have almost taken over their children's lives "by proxy" - making every decision for the kids, from the time they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed at night. I know of another family who even have to feed their primary school child his lunch in the family van each afternoon - in their hurry to bring him to his first tuition class immediately after school dismisses!
I feel sad for the hundreds and hundreds of pitiful school-children who are robbed of their happy childhood solely because their parents are anxious over their future "success in life". In my opinion, these parents have unwittingly destroyed the emotional and mental health of a whole generation of young people.
Such powerful and overwhelming anxiety: it gives parents no time to pause and think of better alternatives. Isn't there a better way of dealing with these "make or break" circumstances? Isn't there some way of having peace of mind, or peace in our hearts over this nagging issue?
Yes, dear Christian parent, there is. The word of God tells us in Philippians 4:6,7:
"for nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer, and by supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God, that is surpassing all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." v. 6,7
The answer for us is to make known our requests to our God by our prayers and supplications - with thanksgiving. By doing so, we can have peace in our hearts. Not any kind of short-lived, momentary and fleeting peace, but the peace of God. This peace that is of God is higher than our understanding. It "guards our hearts and thoughts" in Christ.
By having the peace of God guarding our hearst, we Christian parents can escape from the anxieties of this world and avoid falling into the cruel ways of so many parents around us.
And instead of being preoccupied with the anxieties of our children's "make or break" success in exams, there are better things for us to think of and be occupied with. Verses 8 and 9 says:
"As to the rest, brethren, as many things as are true, as many as [are] grave, as many as [are] righteous, as many as [are] pure, as many as [are] lovely, as many as [are] of good report, if any worthiness, and if any praise, these things think upon; the things that also ye did learn, and receive, and hear, and saw in me, those do, and the God of the peace shall be with you." v.8,9
Yes, besides having the peace of God guarding our hearts, we can also have the God of peace being present with us. When we stop getting entangled with being anxious over many things of this world, but instead "think upon" things which are true, upright, pure, lovely and things which are of good report, the God of peace will be with us.
May the peace of God guard your hearts. May the God of peace be with you all.
