Encouragement grounded in Scripture
Rooted in truth. Anchored in Christ.
New reflections weekly.
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Doing it All for Him
“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
There is a Steven Curtis Chapman song that has come to my mind many times lately. The opening verses of the song “Do Everything” state what many moms feel on a daily basis.
“You’re picking up toys on the living room floor for the fifteenth time today. Matching up socks, sweeping up lost Cheerios that got away.”
Yes, I can relate. Just like many other moms, dads, parents, grandparents, and just as the song says, I wonder sometimes if it really matters at all?
Lately, I have been asking myself this question in relation to my job. Yes, I am aware of how lucky I am to have a job at all, but I would be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that there are many days when the thought of copying one more board packet, or scheduling one more meeting is not all that appealing.
There are many days I ask myself what is the purpose of all of this? What is my purpose here each day? Yes, it allows more time with my family. It is certainly less stressful than past jobs, but sometimes I am just not fulfilled.
The Lord will work out His plan for my life. Psalm 138:8
Truth is, although I know I have a divine purpose, and that I have dreams that have nothing to do with the work I am doing now, God does have plans for me right where I am. This job that may not be exceptionally fulfilling is part of His ultimate plan, and part of His purpose for me.
“Little stuff, big stuff, in between stuff-God sees it all the same.”
Whether it is picking up socks, Cheerios, and kids; or making that thousandth copy, or scheduling one more meeting, God is in the midst of it all, working through you to fulfill His purpose.
So, if you happen to be in the same place I am right now, wanting to grumble in the middle of your not so glamorous day, and forgetting to praise Him where you are, just remember:
“Whatever you do, It all matters. So do what you do. Don’t ever forget.
To do everything you do to the glory of the one who made you.”
Because He made you, and he put you wherever you may currently be for a purpose.
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My Brother’s Keeper
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your doing, this is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8
“Mommy, I’m not going to college.” This is what my then 5 year old daughter says to me out of the blue one night while brushing her hair.
“Hayley, sure you are. What would make you say that?”
Her response: “Because I can’t leave Hunter. He needs me.”
This little girl, the one who bickers with, hits, and calls her brother “annoying” doesn’t want to leave him?
“Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God” Ruth 1:16.
This innocent conversation takes me back many years to another innocent conversation between my 16 year old self and my father. Just like Hayley did months ago, I told my father, “I can’t go away to college. He needs me.” See, I couldn’t leave my brother either. I could not bear to leave him alone. That innocent 16 year old, thought she could save her brother from continuing to make poor decisions, save him from the hurts of growing up, and protect him from the things that he allowed his mind and heart to crave.
Without me to guide him, protect him, and keep him safe, then who would?
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” Deuteronomy 31:8.
Now, 19 years later, I am finishing college in a small town I never left, and while my brother finishes out a jail sentence because of those same “poor” choices, I still wish to keep my brother safe from harm. I still want to “protect” him, and I know he still “needs” his big sister, just as Hayley thinks Hunter “needs” his big sister. I also know something else I did not know 19 years ago when I vowed to my Dad that I would not leave my brother: I cannot save him from poor choices-only God can do that! I can’t recuse him from the life he has been dealt. God will do that.
And this is a promise I hold onto, a prayer I utter to Him each and every day-that God will protect my brother, that God will save him from poor choices, and that God will guide him in the way of righteousness.
I know even with the reassurance of God’s safety and protection, my brother and I will always need each other, and I remind my children of this every time they fight and argue, and I warn them that one day they won’t be close enough to simply reach out and hug each other, or comfort each other.
But God does this for us. God steps in and does the touching and the comforting for us. He reaches out to save, to protect, to guide. He is my brother’s keeper, and He will be the one to hopefully, one day soon, bring His prodigal son home.
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Comfort in the Tug of War
But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears. Psalm 18:6
Sometimes, we just have one of those days. One of those days when our emotions just take us over. Days when we feel confused, just a bit agitated, and a tad bit “off.” Those days when we don’t know whether to sulk or scream. Those days when we just want to cry out to God, to ask Him, Why?
“My God, my God why have you have abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?” Psalm 22:1
Today was one of those days for me, and it was yet another one of those days for my darling, Hunter too. As an overly agitated, slightly off parent of an overly agitated, slightly off preschooler knows, the combination of the two of you after a rough day does not make for a harmonious union, and can make a mom wonder where to find God in a time like this.
Help me, God…please, help me!
Picture the tug of war that is usually a part of most elementary school field days. Instead, this time we have Mommy on one end of this emotional rope, and Hunter on the other; tugging and pulling until one finally decides he or she isn’t strong enough and decides to let go.
Usually me, a defeated mess of a mother, in a crumpled heap on a cold bathroom floor. Usually him, a screaming mess, in a crumpled heap, in a dark bedroom.
Until, I hear a little voice in the dark: “Mommy, I’m scared. I’m scared. Come help me!”
Until I hear that still small voice: “Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you” Isaiah 31:13.
But, I am afraid I can’t handle these meltdowns. “You can do all things through my strength, January” (Phil 4:13)
But, I am afraid that I just can’t get through to this kid. “I will instruct you and teach you, January” (Psalm 32:8).
I am afraid, Lord…I am afraid, too. “But, my rod and my staff will comfort and protect you” (Psalm 23:4).
And he does, he comforts me, as I pick up my scared, emotional little boy, as I rub his tiny back, and squeeze him tight. As I tell him: “Hunter, Mommy is here. It is alright. I am here, and I love you.”
And isn’t it comforting to know that when we feel “off,” lonely, or scared, God stretches out His own loving arms, whispers in our ears, and tells us: “My, child. I love you. I am here. Do not be afraid.”
I am sure there will be many more games of tug of war played in this home, along with many more emotional battles, but I am comforted in knowing that it is alright to drop the rope, to admit that I am not strong enough, and to cry out to the Lord for help-and then to reach down and comfort my child again and again, in the same way He reaches down to comfort me.
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Clothed in Him
Source: http://www.picmonkey.com/p/ujBDA9t1Zqq I admit it. I am a woman who has an obsession with clothes. I have a closet full of clothing, and I like to look fashionable and “cute.” However, my outside appearance, my put-together attire, doesn’t often match what I feel on the inside. Yet, I still worry about what I look like, and how my external appearance looks to others.
A few years ago I started a fashion blog. I chronicled all the outfits I wore on a daily basis. I plastered on a smile, posed for the camera, and shared with the world just how “put-together” I appeared on the outside. Although fashion is a part of who I am, a part of my internal make up, and one of my passions, the painted on smiles and happy appearances were not me. I haven’t posted a picture or outfit on that first blog of mine in over a year, and it was during my blogging hiatus I began to reflect on what truly makes a woman “fashionable.”
“The Lord does not look at the thing man looks at. Man looks at outward appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
I finally realized that God does not care about my shoes, he does not care whether my outfit looks like I stepped off the pages of a J. Crew catalog. What God cares about has nothing to do with my outward appearance. Still, many days I find myself shedding my nice layer of clothing, the clothing I use to hopefully cover up all the ugliness I was hiding on the inside. The clothing I use to hide all the parts I don’t want others to see.
She is clothed in fine linen and purple. Proverbs 31:22
I wonder how many other women, when reading about the righteous woman described in Proverbs 31, get stuck on verse 22, and fail to take note of the rest of the passage, the verses that indicate the clothes about which God really cares:
She is clothed with strength and dignity; She can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. Proverbs 31:25-26
Strength, dignity, laughter, wisdom, and instruction come not with the price of fancy clothes, but with complete reliance on Him, honesty with God and others, and with a heart that seeks Him alone, and not the approval of the world around us. It means shedding our layers of fine clothing, and sometimes having to expose the things in our hearts and lives that just are not that “fashionable,” and showing the world that we are not all as “put-together” as our outside appearances may lead others to believe. It is also relinquishing the idea that a woman of true character, a woman after God’s heart, must be a woman that looked like she stepped off a runway.
Shedding our layers of fine clothing, and letting others and God see our true hearts, does not mean that we need to let ourselves go. We can still adorn ourselves with perfectly accessorized ensembles, but with the realization that only God can make us completely “put-together,” something even the finest runway outfit will never be able to do!
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Praying for Our Monsters
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22
“Please God. Make the monsters go away, and help me stay asleep tonight.”
This is the prayer I help my youngest child recite as I tuck him into bed. Our small, quirky child often has trouble sleeping, and as well meaning, and sleep deprived parents, we have tried different forms of “magic” to assist our son in sleeping through the night-“special” stuffed animals, night lights, “fighting” the monsters that supposedly live in the closet, and giving in and getting under the covers with him. Most nights, desperate for sleep, we also prayed.
“Please God. Make the monsters go away, and help me stay asleep tonight,” I say as I Ieave his room for probably what will be the first time tonight, and as I say to my believing child-“We asked, Hunter. And he will make it happen!”
But…when we pray to Him, do we always believe it will come to pass? Do we truly believe God will answer all of our prayers?
“Seek first the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33
How many times have I sought counsel other than God’s? I seek answers from friends, from social media, from the internet. I look for the cure for my pain in the vitamin aisle at the grocery store, and I search for relief from my monsters in all the “cures” and “magic” the world offers. What would happen if I, like a small child, simply asked God to take my monsters away? And, what if I actually believed he would?
It is through the humble faith of a small child, that I see just how much I truly doubt God has all the answers to my prayers. Disbelief is often what stands in the way of His granting of our requests, and since we often don’t “ask in faith, without doubting” as instructed in James 1:6, many of our prayers often go unanswered.
When the same scared little boy we put to sleep the night before wakes up the following day, and tells me that God really did make the monsters go away, he reminds me yet again, to believe that God will answer all my prayers too, that He will meet all of my needs, if I truly believe it!
So, believe it. Believe God will answer your prayers. Believe God will assist you in your finances, lessen your pain, grant your smallest wish, and make the monsters go away.
Go ahead. Ask Him-“Please God…” And then believe that he will.
About Me
I am January! Wife, mother, meemaw, pastor, and mental health provider who makes it through the day with my coffee, my journal, and my God. A simple human, navigating life through the messy and sometimes chaotic. All focused on Him.
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