God Did Not Create Me For This…
- Introducing Quiet Time And Sticking To It! - June 1, 2018
- The Parable of the Persistent Widow - April 20, 2018
- Maintaining Friendships During Motherhood - March 22, 2018
What did God create you for?
Have you ever stopped to think about all the things that God did not intend for us in this life? I feel like some days I am constantly reminded of these things. Many evenings I will sit down and reflect back over my day. What were my general feelings today? What went right, and what didn’t? Did I get things done? And what did I put off or forget to do? What habits do I need to start to make me feel more successful? And on and on and on…
God gives us a full range of emotions to experience life to its very fullest. In my mind I can be the most fulfilled if I’m feeling generally more positive than negative. That’s my personal preference. Some people are like a piece of metal. When the heat is on they just bend and change to fit the temperature. Some people are more like a piece of paper and they just burn up. I’d like to think that I’m somewhere in the middle. As a result of my military upbringing, I am a pretty flexible person, regardless of my personality. However, having children and running my own household presents pressures and challenges that at times threaten to burn me up and leave behind a little pile of ashes.
Perseverance, not Exhaustion and Defeat
James 1:4 says, “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Sometimes it seems as though perseverance for the sake of perseverance alone is the only thing I’ve got left. But God does not want us to feel downtrodden and hopeless. It is not His will for us to be exhausted and defeated by the day.
I love this whole chapter of Isaiah. The Lord is really encouraging His people and giving them comfort. God knows that our journey here on earth will not be easy. There are going to be bad days and tantrums. There is going to be spilled milk on the carpet and sand in their hair, dirty dishes and floors and toilets. I often dwell on and worry about these things and that was never God’s intent. God created me for more than my to-do list!
Letting Go and Letting God
I’m going to make a list for myself of what I am intentionally going to try and let go. Perhaps, this list will be helpful to you as well.
This week I will work to let go of the following:
- Distress over my housekeeping imperfections
- Incessant worrying about my children’s (insert your worry here)
- Frustration at other people because of (for me it’s their driving!)
- Jealousy over someone else’s blessings, calling, or opportunities
- Fixation with my idea of how everything should be
Considering I’m going to work on these for the next week, it’s a pretty long list; however, these are the things that God has revealed to me recently. Some of these things are issues I grapple with frequently while others are rather infrequent. I feel that each of these are relevant to God’s will for my life, and that these things are holding me back from other things God has for me in my life.
I pledge this week to work towards laying these concerns at the feet of Jesus and clothing myself in things that are pure, holy, and right.
Here are my really great reasons to work on this list. I’d like to make more room for these things!
Will you take this pledge with me?
If you’d like to, please share your list with us so we can be praying along with you about what God can take from you to make more room for Him!
