MORE ON "LETTING'M ASK!" 6/90--By Maria Maria #133 DO 2651
1. Once Techi had confessed & told us all about the crazy & horrible thoughts & pictures that the Enemy was attacking her with, we told her that it was no longer necessary for us to have to discuss & analyse every single "fiery dart" that popped into her head. For the first few times, we had to let her explain all of the gory details to us. Then we realised that the Devil was repeatedly bombarding her with the same kind of senseless, insane & ridiculous thoughts & pictures.
2. So from that point on, although we continued to closely monitor her to see if she was still being hit with these things, we no longer had her describe each & every bad thought or picture to us. We still wanted & needed to know the frequency & severity of her battles with them so we could encourage & help her to keep resisting them.--But once we were well aware of the Enemy's devices & the specific kind of trash that he kept hitting her with, we counselled her that it was best to no longer even give any place to those obviously ridiculous thoughts & pictures by describing & discussing them.--"Neither give place to the Devil!"--Eph.4:27.
3. But it's another story entirely when a child sees something on a video or hears something in someone's conversation or while they're out witnessing, & that thing that they saw or heard troubles them or makes them wonder, question or doubt in some way. In such cases, if they have any questions or fears about whatever it was, we can't tell them, "Just forget about it.--Don't even think about that!--Just put that violent scene you saw in that movie out of your mind!"--Or, "Just forget those Sodomites you saw when out witnessing!"--Or whatever it is that's troubling them.
4. We can tell them to forget & not give place to the Devil's thoughts & pictures he brings suddenly to their mind out of nowhere, but if the thing that's troubling them isn't just something in their mind or imagination, but something real they actually saw or heard, it needs to be addressed. It could easily make matters worse for them if you tell them to just try to forget it & you don't discuss it with them. It would be far better to discuss whatever it was that they saw or heard, & explain to them why it's bad & show them what the Word has to say about it & how to deal with such situations if & when they encounter them again in the future.
5. Whenever a child is troubled or frightened about something that they've seen or heard, you should ask them about it, & answer any questions they may have. After all, the Lord has the answers to everything, so there's nothing that we should be afraid of addressing & facing with our kids. And of course, if we don't know the answer off hand, we should pray for the Lord's wisdom & solutions, that He will give us the answers in some way.
6. The other day when Techi asked me something & I wasn't 100% sure of the answer, I said, "I'll tell you what I think is the answer, but I'm not quite sure.--I'll ask Grandpa later." We don't have to act like we always know all the answers. You can say, "I don't know for sure, but I'll ask So-&-so & we'll discuss it. Maybe we can even pow-wow it.--And we can look in the Word & see what the Word has to say about it."--That way, everyone who has the Bible & the MO Letters has the same opportunity to find the answers.
7. So you don't ever need to be afraid that you don't have the answers, because the Lord always has the answer!--He has the answers to everything! Of course, if you're too proud to admit that you don't know all the answers, then you might be afraid of some questions the kids might ask you. But you shouldn't ever be too proud to admit things like that.--Especially when you realise that your children's future & well-being may be at stake if you don't give them the answers they need! Just be honest & tell them, "Sorry, I don't know the answer on that one for sure, but there are plenty of people who probably do know, so we'll look in the Word & pray about it, & discuss it with others, & I'm sure the Lord will give us an answer!"
8. Techi has told me that even when I can't answer her questions immediately, she just feels relieved that she's been able to ask me. At least she's been able to unburden her heart, & even if I haven't yet gotten back to her about it, just the fact that she's been able to ask me her question is a real relief to her, & she's then able to go on without being troubled by whatever it was that she was questioning.
9. Of course, you have to be real Spirit-led about what you tell them about different things that may be troubling them. With obvious demonic attacks of weird thoughts or violent pictures like some of the things that Techi has battled with recently, you can say with conviction, "Don't even think about that any more! Just pray & fight to put it out of your mind!--`Neither give place to the Devil!'" But if it's something that's a fairly "normal" worldly activity that's going on all the time, some horror of the System that they see in the news or in a movie or even when out witnessing, the impact on them may be almost as bad or even worse than some of the terrible thoughts that the Enemy may attack them with out of the clear blue!
10. Whenever it's something that they have actual questions about, the kids should be allowed to express those questions, no matter how stupid or foolish the question may seem. A question is a question, & if it's legitimate in their mind, then they should certainly be allowed to express it. And as I said, even if they don't get a satisfactory answer from you immediately, just the fact that they've been allowed to unburden themselves & ask you, sometimes solves the whole problem & relieves them of that burden.--At least they then feel that someone knows about it & understands what they're going through!
11. You can always give them some kind of an answer. As I said, the Lord always has an answer, & even if you don't know anything real specific to say on it, you can always give some kind of a general basic Scriptural principle or answer that applies to their question.
12. So please, let the kids ask questions!--Even on things that may seem very bad or even horrible, whether it's about something that they've seen on the news or in a video or on the streets or wherever! They should feel free to bring anything that troubles them to you & ask questions.--Because if they don't, they're going to wind up holding that in their heart, & as a result, could easily grow fearful or doubtful about it. The more they hold things like that inside & the less they talk about them, the more the Devil can blow them up & trouble them with it.
13. Because Techi has been honest & open & talked about her fears & questions, she's not only been relieved of those unnecessary burdens, but we've been able to get good lessons out of it that we're now able to share with all of you! PTL! So please, for God's sake & for their sake, let'm ask! Amen? PTL!
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