We cannot always choose for our children because God has given your children a will. You say, “Well, Pastor, what about the proverb that says ‘Train up a child in the way that he shall go, and when he is old he will not depart from it’”?
Friend, that scripture is a proverb, not a promise. If you take the proverbs and try to turn them into promises, you will loose your faith.
Just read the book of Proverbs and see some of the promises like, “The man who tills the ground will have plenty to eat.” Well, what if there comes a flood or some other thing happens? No, that is a proverb. A proverb is a principle generally applied that brings a general result.
“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Well, it is generally true…unless he gets hit by a truck. It is a proverb.
I have seen parents put themselves under great stress because they have a child who goes wrong, and they say, “What did I do?” Cain and Abel had the same parents, yet one of them turned out to be a murderer. God Almighty had some children in the Garden of Eden, and they didn’t turn out too swift either. Was it a problem with the environment or the Father? Of course not. They were in the Garden of Eden. Just as Adam and Eve, God gave your child a will.
LWF.org