I don’t like to read the news very often. I find it depressing. Discouraging. Disappointing. Often disgusting. Normally, I’m a headline scanner – just enough to keep abreast of world happenings – but not enough to bring me down. Yesterday, though, for some reason I read an article, and immediately wished I had not. It doesn’t even matter what the article was about – it was debased, disgusting, shameful, and sinful. It was full of people happily and flagrantly wallowing and glorying in sin. I was so sad and discouraged after reading it, I could hardly sleep.
The next day, after school, I took my little troupe off to the library. Amazingly, it was our first visit since the Covid epidemic. Having not been there in such a long while, we were all excited and looking forward to some good books. My little two year-old couldn’t even remember having ever been to the library before. Oh, my! Let’s fix that.
A Simple Trip to the Library
So, off we trouped. As I led my tiny girl over to the section of board books. I explained how these were wonderful books just right for her and she could pick out a few to take home. The board books were in low open-bins near the floor – perfect toddler level – and she gleefully began grabbing them. I wasn’t on my guard. I wasn’t expecting to be confronted with flagrant evil in the toddler section of the library.
First book: My Two Moms and Me by Michael Joosten.
“Um, no. Let’s put that one back, honey!”
Next up: My First Book of Feminism (For Boys) by Julie Merberg.
“Uh…here, Sweet Girl!” I made a fast scan, and…, “Here’s a book about some little chicks on a farm!”
Toddler distracted for a moment, I flipped through the feminism book. To be just, it had a few decent suggestions in there…respect your mom, clean up after yourself. But some other propaganda and I marveled…why DID society feel it was age-appropriate to introduce toddlers to feminism?
Next up my toddler pulled another book by Michael Joosten, My Two Dads and Me.
Distressed and wondering what happened to the books about choo-choo trains and shapes, I scooped up the farm story, did a quick flip through the selections and spied an old classic by Laura Numeroff, Happy Birthday, Mouse! Whew! I grabbed that one, too, feeling the distinct need to get back home to my own bookshelf as a profound sadness began to settle over me.
READ: A Mom’s Cry to God, “O Fill My Cup Let it Overflow”
Some Days I Feel a Lot Like Lot
On the drive home, my thoughts drifted to Lot. Righteous Lot. He was distressed by immoral society, too. Remember him? He was living in Sodom just before God destroyed it. 2 Peter 2:7-8 says he was “greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard.”
Our reality is that we live in a fallen world that is getting darker and becoming more ungodly every day. The society around us has lost sight of God and his Word. It IS sad and distressing when reading an article online and a simple trip to the library turns up such degradation and immorality. Somehow, it is even more discouraging when that sinfulness is aimed at our children.
But, it is supposed to be distressing. As Christians, we know God. We have tasted first-hand of his purity and goodness. When we see the contrast of the sin and ugliness in the world, it ought to distress our hearts. If not, it means we are becoming desensitized to the sin around us. The culture today is debased, shameful, and yes, disgusting, in so many ways.
None of This is New to Humanity or to God
While it bothers our hearts, it bothered Lot, too, in the Old Testament, and the folks in the New Testament when Peter was writing as well. There’s nothing new about a debased society!
It can quickly become discouraging if you let it bother you, but in the very next verse, 2 Peter 2:9, God reassures us, “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.”
Then he follows it up in the next chapter with a warning, “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.” 2 Pet. 3:17
It is okay to feel distressed by the sin around you. As a Christian, it is even expected that the ugliness of the world will – and should – bother you. Just don’t let Satan win by getting you so discouraged and down-hearted! Don’t let the lawlessness of the culture cause you to lose your stability. Remember that the Lord is with you and will rescue you just like he rescued Lot.
What About Our Kids?
The more challenging question as a mom, is how to save my children through the depravity? Remember Lot’s wife and Lot’s daughters? On the car-trip home from the library that’s where my thoughts went next, and I cringed. God rescued Lot. But Lot’s choices led to the depravity of his children.
In today’s debased culture, our children are surrounded by worldliness. They get it at school, from TV shows, and yes, from children’s books, too. We are raising our children in a sinful world of lawlessness and we must do everything we can to bring them out of Sodom before they lose their souls. There’s nothing new about this, either!
READ: 40 Traditions That Teach Faith to Kids
Don’t forget that warning in 2 Pet 3:17 – “take care!”, or, as another translation puts it, “be on your guard”. That’s where I failed in my library trip. I had let my guard down in that moment thinking it was a “safe” place for kids and was blind-sided. As parents, we must be on our guard for our children. We need to intentionally teach them God’s standards so they can recognize sin when they are confronted with it. Knowing truth will help them learn when it is appropriate to feel distressed and disgusted by the culture. We want them to learn how to be on their guard but also how to shine in the darkness.
If Today You’re Feeling Discouraged
If today you’re feeling a little bit discouraged, just know you are not alone. Or maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed by the news. Just remind yourself that it’s not really “new” or newsworthy. This is the Good News: God is on his throne. He shields and rescues his people. God leads us through the deep waters. He will not abandon you or forsake you. God sent the Savior to forgive us and redeem us. When the world gets darker, Christians shine brighter.
In the meanwhile?
We don’t the watch the news together as a family. The kids don’t need to see the depravity of humanity’s debauchery. I want them to fall asleep at night filled with Bible stories of God’s goodness! My job right now as a mom is to teach them to shine and to recognize truth in God’s word. But unfortunately, they will have to learn about the sinfulness of the culture little by little as they grow. So, we will teach them to navigate the worldliness, too, and it looks like that just might start with a little trip to the library.
Next Up: Raising Fearless Kids in a Scary World