Grandparents your role in the continuity of God’s plan is key – your impact is eternal.
If you were privileged to grow up with grandparents involved in your life you will know. The impact that they have on your life still continues to this day, even though they left this earth many years ago. It might be a saying they said, a smile they greeted you with or a specific food they fed you that gave you memories which have shaped your life.
You now have the privilege to have the same impact in the life of future generations to leave a legacy that will last long beyond your time on earth.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 – ‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.’
Our legacy lasts down through generations, in its time God makes everything beautiful and that includes your own family. God did not make a mistake when he gave you your children or your grandchildren. To put it another way, God has put in you what is required to help your children and grandchildren become all that He has called them to be. God knows you have what it takes to help your grandchildren fulfil their destiny. God believes in you!
Yet as grandparents in different family situations at this stage of life, it can be easy to underestimate the eternal impact we are having on our grandchildren’s lives. When we do this there is a danger that we devalue the impact we can have which in turn reduces the potential impact as we shrink back from what God has placed in our hands.
So don’t underestimate your impact!
Don’t underestimate the impact of the time you can give.
Whether it is several days a week or a few hours once a year, you will have great impact in your grandchildren’s life. Quality time, being interested in your grandchildren’s world is a great way to leave a legacy for them of knowing that they are love in this world beyond their immediate family.
Don’t underestimate the impact of your words.
A few kind words of encouragement to a grandchild who knows their grandparents love them will have a long lasting impact on their lives, beyond what you can measure in the immediate moment. Your words a building a strength for them to turn to.
Don’t underestimate the impact of your faith example.
Pausing to pray before you eat. Having your Bible visible in the house, not packed away in a cupboard. Talking about events in your church. Whether your grandchildren are being raised in a home of faith or a home where faith is not mentioned your silent witness will have an impact and soften their hearts to the Gospel. They will remember that grandad was a strong Christian and that grandma was praying for them.
When things work well across the generations, grandparents are one of the greatest creations in God’s kingdom. Grandchildren benefit from someone with time to invest in them, the parents benefit from time off and grandparents benefit from the unconditional love and joy a grandchild brings.
Where relationships are more strained, Christian grandparents are the stake in the ground that point back to how things used to be. In the words of Jeremiah 6:16, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
There will come a time when your grandchildren will stand in the crossroads and have to make decisions. You are a link to the ancient paths, you are the signpost that points to the good way. You’re impact and influence can allow your grandchildren to find rest for their souls.
I am always curious to ask adults who come to faith if there are any other believers in their family. Many have told me they were raised in a secular home, but they had a grandmother who went to church and who they knew prayed for them.
Don’t underestimate your impact, but allow the Holy Spirit to use you to steady this generation in this rapidly changing culture. Engage in the battle for your grandchildren and see God bring them safely through to Him.