It's written to a first-time mom, but the eternal truth echoes whether you have children or not: "I can do nothing apart from Jesus."
Learning to abide in Him alone,
for His glory!
~Lisha :)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Abide in Me, and I
in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the
vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I
in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
[John 15:4-5]
It’s audacious. And
daunting. What a claim for Jesus to make – that without Him we can do nothing.
But if He is telling
the truth (and we know that He is, because He Himself is Truth!), then that
means that we can do nothing without abiding in Him.
You’re a mother!
Apart from being one of God’s daughters and being a wife, being a mom is the
next highest, most glorious calling in your life. God chose you before the
foundation of the world to be the mom of this sweet little baby that we cannot
wait to meet. That you cannot wait to hold and snuggle and be amazed at. That your
mom & mother-in-law cannot wait to spoil with the love that only a grammy
knows!! (and trust me, you won’t understand the love that drives a grammy to
feed your kid sweets just before dinner even though she never ever would have
done that when you were younger! But let them be Grammies!!)
But, back to the
point. God picked you to be this baby’s mom, at this time in your life! Not
because you are qualified, not because you have the answers, not because your
parenting philosophy is awesome. Not because you’re able to handle the stress
of raising a child. Not because of who you are, but solely for His glory! You
are not capable of raising up a child the way He wants you to.
This revelation may
have multiple responses:
1) Fear
and panic. Without Jesus by your side, in your heart, and on your mind – you
cannot be the kind of mother He is calling you to be. That seems like a tall
order. How in the world, you may ask, am I supposed to keep my mind fixed on
Jesus while I’m changing diapers or up at 12 and 2 and 3:30 and 4 and 6…? How
can my heart be full to bursting for Jesus when my heart is already bursting to
full with my husband and the little one? How can I expect Jesus to want to be
by my side when I’m doing the mundane, every day things like laundry (again),
dishes (again), making lunch (again), or just trying to fit in 5 minutes to fix
my hair in the mirror so I don’t look atrocious? How can I fix on Him enough?
2)
Freedom!!! Oh, the freedom that comes from
abiding in Jesus and knowing that you cannot do anything as a mom without His
help! When you start out with the truth that you, in your own strength and
knowledge and intentions, are not going to be good enough – you know there will
be sufficient grace to pick you up when you falter (and you will, indeed,
falter)! God says that He gives grace to the humble, but scorns the proud
(James 4:6). And Jesus will lift you up! If you put your energies into abiding
in Him by abiding in His Word, He will gently guide you and show you what to
do. And when you rest in His Word and lean on His strength, you will be able to
do all the things He desires for you in your roles as mom & wife. Not in
your strength, but His. And since His strength is infinitely more reliable and
time-tested, take Him at His Word and abide in it.
I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me. [Philippians 4:13]
…Apart from Him, I can do nothing. [John 15:5]
{I may be sharing this post at one of these wonderful Link-up parties!}
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