I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord. – 1 Samuel 1:27-28  

Infertility plagued Hannah, who endured ongoing taunts about her childless state. So when God gave her Samuel, she fulfilled her promise and dedicated him to the Lord’s service. Once he was weaned, Samuel began his training, and Hannah visited her son each year. She had, after all, dedicated him to the Lord, whom she trusted with her son’s life.

Christian moms today often stand in front of their congregations, their new babies in their arms, and dedicate their children to God. They commit to raising their precious gifts to know and live for the Lord. That commitment is a sacred trust.

Sometimes our efforts bear early and lasting fruit. I remember an old friend who referred to one of her four children as her “pure joy child.” He exhibited a sweet, compassionate, compliant spirit that sought to please God and others.

Sometimes that fruit is long in coming. We pour into our children until we feel we have nothing left to give, and yet we see a spiritual desert where we would think well-watered fruit should thrive.

We see teens and young adults making choices that dishonor the Lord, and we feel helpless as our efforts appear to be for naught. We cry, we plead, we pray, we reprimand, and yet they continue to stray.

And in those moments, we must ask ourselves: To whom did we dedicate these children, and do we really trust the Lord with them?

In those moments of doubt, struggle and fear, stop, drop and pray. Commit your prodigal to God anew – not for the Lord’s sake because He certainly has not forgotten, but for your own.

But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. – 1 Timothy 1:12

God loved your child before He knit her together in your womb. He loves your child with an everlasting love. He longs for a reciprocal love relationship with her. We know this because He desires none to perish (2 Peter 3:9).

Remember, you are not accountable for your child’s choices. You are accountable for your own faithfulness in training up your child in the way that he or she should go. Entrust God with the rest, because He is able to guard what you have entrusted to Him.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21

Do you trust God with your health? Do you trust God with your marriage? Do you trust God with your finances? Do you trust God with your children? Well, you can. You may be a good mother, but He is a good, good Father, and your love, your ability and your efforts pale compared with His.

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. – Revelation 14:12