Biblical Encouragement for the Hard Work of Parenting
By Sarah Earles, MS, LPC, NCC | May 24, 2024
Parenting is hard work. On the hardest days, you may feel overwhelmed, ill-equipped, and lacking strength to do the tasks before you. It is true. You do not have the strength you need to do this hard work, especially when you parent kids from hard places… But there is hope! The Bible gives us that.
Jesus is a Savior who knows your struggle.
The prophet Isaiah wrote of Jesus, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem” (New International Version, 2011, Isa 53:3). As David Guzik (2021) quotes Spurgeon, “all the sufferings of the body and of the soul were known to him.” Jesus can empathize with every struggle and hardship, for He Himself has born it. As such, He is a suitable helper.
God can comfort you.
Jesus knows your sorrow, struggle, hardship, and pain. Father God can comfort you. The Apostle Paul writes that God is “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles” (2 Cor 1:3-4). This comfort is not just any comfort, but “has the idea of strengthening, of helping, of making strong” (Guzik, 2022b). God knows. God cares. He is there to strengthen.
You do not need to be strong.
Parenting is hard work. You do not have to be strong for God to help you. The Apostle Paul writes that Christ’s power is made strong in weakness (2 Cor 12:10). He writes that he labored not with his own energy, but with “all the energy Christ so powerfully work[ed] in [him]” (Col 1:29). Suffering is painful, but it can draw you nearer to God (Ligonier, 2021). This nearness to God can then empower you to do the hard work of parenting.
God gives rest.
Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint. God knows, and he gives rest by taking on your burdens, if you will cast them on him. Paul exhorts readers in 1 Peter 5:7 to “Cast all…anxiety on him because he cares.” Matthew writes in chapter 11, verse 28 that Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus speaks of a light yoke, which becomes light “because He bears it with us” (Guzik, 2022a). Take heart that God knows what you need, and that He will provide rest and relief by bearing burdens with you.
In conclusion, though parenting is not easy, God is with you in it to comfort and strengthen you. Abide in Him and allow him to empower you in this hard (and good) work (John 1:5).
Recommended Reads
Parenting is hard work. On the hardest days, you may feel overwhelmed, ill-equipped, and lacking strength to do the tasks before you. It is true. You do not have the strength you need to do this hard work, especially when you parent kids from hard places… But there is hope! The Bible gives us that.
Jesus is a Savior who knows your struggle.
The prophet Isaiah wrote of Jesus, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem” (New International Version, 2011, Isa 53:3). As David Guzik (2021) quotes Spurgeon, “all the sufferings of the body and of the soul were known to him.” Jesus can empathize with every struggle and hardship, for He Himself has born it. As such, He is a suitable helper.
God can comfort you.
Jesus knows your sorrow, struggle, hardship, and pain. Father God can comfort you. The Apostle Paul writes that God is “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles” (2 Cor 1:3-4). This comfort is not just any comfort, but “has the idea of strengthening, of helping, of making strong” (Guzik, 2022b). God knows. God cares. He is there to strengthen.
You do not need to be strong.
Parenting is hard work. You do not have to be strong for God to help you. The Apostle Paul writes that Christ’s power is made strong in weakness (2 Cor 12:10). He writes that he labored not with his own energy, but with “all the energy Christ so powerfully work[ed] in [him]” (Col 1:29). Suffering is painful, but it can draw you nearer to God (Ligonier, 2021). This nearness to God can then empower you to do the hard work of parenting.
God gives rest.
Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint. God knows, and he gives rest by taking on your burdens, if you will cast them on him. Paul exhorts readers in 1 Peter 5:7 to “Cast all…anxiety on him because he cares.” Matthew writes in chapter 11, verse 28 that Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus speaks of a light yoke, which becomes light “because He bears it with us” (Guzik, 2022a). Take heart that God knows what you need, and that He will provide rest and relief by bearing burdens with you.
In conclusion, though parenting is not easy, God is with you in it to comfort and strengthen you. Abide in Him and allow him to empower you in this hard (and good) work (John 1:5).
Recommended Reads
References
Guzik, D. (2021). Study guide for Isaiah 53. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/isaiah/isaiah-53.cfm?a=732003
Guzik, D. (2022a, August). Study guide for Matthew 11. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/matthew/matthew-11.cfm?a=940028
Guzik, D. (2022b, August). Study guide for 2 Corinthians 1. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/2-corinthians/2-corinthians-1.cfm?a=1079003
Ligonier Ministries. (2021, August 3). The God of all comfort. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/the-god-of-all-comfort
New International Version. (2011). BibleGateway.com. http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/#booklist
References
Guzik, D. (2021). Study guide for Isaiah 53. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/ guzik_david/study-guide/isaiah/isaiah-53.cfm?a=732003
Guzik, D. (2022a, August). Study guide for Matthew 11. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/ guzik_david/study-guide/matthew/matthew-11.cfm?a=940028
Guzik, D. (2022b, August). Study guide for 2 Corinthians 1. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/ guzik_david/study-guide/2-corinthians/2-corinthians-1.cfm?a=1079003
Ligonier Ministries. (2021, August 3). The God of all comfort. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals /the-god-of-all-comfort
New International Version. (2011). BibleGateway.com. http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/ New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/#booklist
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