It always tore me up inside to see my children sick, especially when they were small. Feeling their little foreheads burning with fever, cheeks hot, listless, moaning—what a nightmare. Worse—several couples I know have children who regularly suffer seizures. When our kids are sick, we are sick at heart with them.

Imagine the plight of this man, who once cried out to Jesus: “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him” (Luke 9:38,39). It seems that when Satan realized that the Son of God was on the surface of the earth, he sent his demons there too, invading people’s minds and spirits, showing his true colors by tormenting them. God had allowed that parental torment to go on for a while. But at just the right time, Jesus spoke his word of power and the demon had to flee. 

When we see our children struggle and suffer, let’s give their needs to Jesus and settle down to wait in patience. Jesus loves our children even more than we do, and their misery won’t last a minute longer than he has determined. He will make their pain work for them and the family. At the time of his choosing, he will bring relief.

Even the demons of hell have to obey him.