God's Recipe for Weary Moms
My family is in a very busy season right now. We have soccer games, football games, and band competitions. I looked at my calendar and there are no white spaces. We are busy and tired. I know you Moms with babies' dream of sleeping through the night again. Moms of toddlers are busy chasing little ones who rival the energizer bunny. Being a Mom can make you permanently tired. Yet, God's Word has the answers for our tired weary souls.
Many times in the Bible God tells us repeatedly to go to him for our strength. Often as Moms we have little time for God, but He is the source for what we need to get through our days. Let's look a few verses to see God's recipe for weary Moms.
Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Psalm 105:4
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The psalmist tell us to seek God and his strength and not just once a day or twice a day, but continually. This is similar to the verse that tells us to pray without ceasing. All through the day we can have an ongoing conversation with God asking Him to give us strength for all the many things we have to do. Praise Him that He has more than enough strength to get us through.
The joy of the LORD is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10.
When we take time out of our days to praise God and worship Him that will give us strength. How? When we worship God we focus on how awesome and wonderful He is and we realize nothing is impossible with God. Have you noticed when you sing a hymn or praise song how your whole being changes while you worship? That joy of the Lord then gives you strength. I would encourage you to listen to praise music on your way to and from work.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13.
The verse above I would guess is a favorite of many CWMs and Christians all over the world. I love the absoluteness of the verse. I can do ALL things not some or a few, but ALL. We as Moms have to remember the strength comes from God, not us just trying harder. We need to be totally dependent on God for everything in our lives and look to him for our strength.
I would encourage you to look in the back of your Bible (if you have a concordance) or do a Google search on all the many verses that speak about strength in the Bible. A quick study of the major characters in the Bible will show you that they were strongest when they were at their weakest point, but totally dependent on God. God's glory can be manifested in us more when we allow Him to shine and not us.
Here are some practical suggestions to learn how to rely on God's strength and not be weary:
1. Tape an index card up by your kitchen sink, diaper changing table, washer/dryer, etc. with a Bible verse that will encourage you. Memorize that verse and look at it each time you do a task. You can learn the verse as a family.
2. Learn to pray without ceasing. Each moment of the day begin to take an opportunity to praise God and ask Him for strength and wisdom to complete the task you are doing at that time.
3. Be kind to yourself and realize if dishes stay in the sink overnight no one will report you to the dish police. Get to bed at a reasonable time and get some sleep.
4. In the car choose to listen to Christian radio, Christian CD's, etc. Music that lifts you up instead of listening to news that discourages you and brings you down.
5. Begin each day and end each day thanking God for his blessings and asking for Him to direct your day instead of the plan you had come up with. Throughout the day continue to seek His presence.
I do think part of being a Mom is being tired. Even when your children become teenagers you are out late for various events. We can get through all the many things we have to do each day with a supernatural strength that comes from God alone and it doesn't expire. Rely on Him for every moment of your life. He will not disappoint.
Final Thoughts
Be attentive to the personality differences in your children and how you need to interact with them. I have one that has to talk everything out immediately and thoroughly. The other one dribbles out information and doesn't want to talk things out. God made us all different and as Moms we have to relate to each of our children differently based on how God made them. Don't you just love that we are all different?!
May God give you strength for all the things you will do this week for Him and for your family.
