The Tower of Strength – The Parent’s Post as Protector

Although God is our ultimate security and Protector – our Strong Tower, as the psalmist said in Psalm 61:2-3, the parent also serves as tower of strength for their children.

In ancient times a tower was an immensely fortified tower, being elevated high above the surrounding danger.  It served as a place of protection, refuge and, well… safety.

Though we as parents are sometimes not aware of “all” and “every” danger our kids may be facing on a given day or season, yet our experiences, our training and our intuition as parents, equips us to be a tower of strength to them.

The Tower of Strength – The Parent’s Post as Protector from Alex Colon

One of my vivid memories while living in Puerto Rico at a young age was staying inside the house, away from windows and doors whenever a tropical storm came by.  My grandparents were more used to this and knew exactly what to do.

Having been raised without a father (he died when I was 4), my grandparents were my heroes. 

Oh my mom was my hero too, but there’s something about being at grandma and grandpa’s house, when only mom is your protector.  (Single mothers do have it hard – my hat’s off to them)  They provided such protection that I feared nothing and no one.

We used to weather storms every so many months or years.  They weren’t’ as common as some might think, but I do remember taking precaution as I was instructed.

In the mid-90s, which were my mid-20s and married, we had a tropical-like storm in Chicago.  Right away my instincts kicked in, and I got my wife and my daughter to safety. 

I took them away from windows choosing to hang out in the middle of the apartment where we lived.  Not much safety but it was the best I had to work with.

I’m glad for the little that I knew as a young father.  10 minutes after we sat down to pray for protection and play with our 3 year old.

Suddently, the power line that ran across the top of our driveway (which was adjacent to the dining room area where we were watching the storm) got hit by lightning. 

At that moment we noticed how the lightning snapped the line in half, causing sparks and loud pops (explosions like), scared us and quickly called 911.

It was no fun watching that cable – even after the storm passed - snapping, and popping, and hissing as the sparks of fire continued. 

So much so, that it burned a section of a huge maple tree that was by it.  That was a weird experience at 5 pm. for a 3 year old, as well as for a parent.

Storms are not the only thing we protect our children from.  In other words, we protect our children by being proactively involved in their daily lives to prepare them for essential decisions, problems and pressures during their childhood and teenage years. 

Consequently that protection often becomes part of their, often stubborn training as well as for their adult years as well.

There are other ways we protect our kids.  In fact, here are 6 ways we protect our kids by standing as the tower of strength for them  when:

1.  We explain to them what to do if a stranger offers a ride somewhere or candy to them.



2.  We offer advice on how to handle a bully in their neighborhood or school (remember those days?  I sure do). 

Back in the day we dealt with bullies much different than I hear leaders instructing other to deal with them. 

I remember being bullied by a kid my age or maybe a year older than me.  I warned him several times to quit or he would have to deal with consequences. 

The day came I was not going to deal with his “bully-ness” and my skills kicked in.  At the age of 11, I hit that boy so hard across his chest, threw him on the ground and told him: “I told you to stop your “bleep” bullying."

And home I went.  Actually, I was surprised he didn’t go to the hospital and I didn’t even get in trouble.

Bruce then became one of my best behaved buddies in school that year.I’m not advocating this type of correctness for a bully, but it sure worked for me.This takes me to my next point.


3.  We help our children develop good friendships, and by stepping in when a wrong influence seems to be getting the upper hand. 

Instructing your child to choose friends wisely saves them years of frustrations and heartaches.  They will carry your instructions for year to come.

4.  We give them boundaries

– like placing a limit on the types of movies they watch, videos they play and Internet browsers they view. 

Not only that - but a timeframe for each of those areas is crucial for their development years – which will help them in their older years.  Your protective skills in this area are incredibly important. 

Does this make you look like a controlling freak type of parent?  Of course not.  They might think so, but this is why it's important to explain to them the reason for their boundaries.

In fact if you give them not only perimeters but also a vision for their lives, they will see the love behind your reasoning and realize your positive influence.  It works.  It has for us.  Our kids are exceptional kids.  Really, I'm not exaggerating. 

All because of this point - boundaries, and vision.

The media and their electronic activities along with their social media interactions will undoubtedly shape their minds, their worldview and their decision making for the rest of their lives.  

Being a tower of protection for them in this area is of great importance.


5.  We love them enough to talk about the difficult issues

Like sex, setting rules for dating (like what age is appropriate to date, how and where to date), respecting authority, servitude and more. 

If you don’t teach them in these areas to protect them from future failures and heartaches, then the media is readily available to give them their spin on it.


6.  We pray

Constant prayers of protection over them are essential.  

If you thought the first five areas or becoming a tower of protection was important and necessary – this one is of utmost importance. 

Without prayer and acquiring protection from our Strong Tower, we’ll lose the purpose and the “how” for why we carry out the first five in the fist place. 

The list could be almost endless. 

In other words, as a parent, you are your child’s Tower of Strength.   
It is the parent’s post to work from in terms of raising a strong family. 

In today’s society parental skills have become more challenging and difficult to carry out.  The influences that we constantly have to battle and protect our families from wear out the strongest minds. 

Through prayer and constant communication with our Main Strong Tower, we are able to take our post and accomplish the greatest job and responsibility in the whole world.    

Part of your God-given purpose as a parent is to stand as a tower of strength for your children.

Question:  How else can we protect our children?  Leave a comment below.