God is With You, Courageous One!

The story of Gideon in the Old Testament is very applicable to you who feel overwhelmed. Gideon was hiding from his enemies the Midianites. He was threshing wheat in a winepress--the only place he could do so safely. Judges 6:12 says, "And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, 'The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!'" He had not been acting mighty or courageous, but God knew Gideon was about to do something great, with God's supernatural power. God saw Gideon for his future potential instead of his past failures or even his present fears.

In addition to calling Gideon a courageous man, the Angel told him "The LORD is with you." This is even more important than Gideon being called a man of valor. We are nothing without the LORD. You and I both know how limited our potential is without the grace of God through the presence of Jesus. Without God, we are going about our lives just trying to survive and not doing so very effectively. Just like Gideon was ineffectively threshing wheat in a winepress, you and I try to complete our never-ending to-do list in our own human capability. But God had great work for Gideon to do, and He has great plans for you as well! Spend a moment asking God to give you a vision for what He plans to do in and through your life in the near future! 

Right now, you might feel like all you do is change diapers or clean the house or go to doctor's visits or work long hours at a job you don't like. You might feel overwhelmed by your current circumstances. You might feel like you cannot do everything you have been thrown into. You might feel like this is too much for you, and since you cannot handle it all, you will just do nothing. But let me tell you what Gideon was about to do when God spoke to him. Gideon was about to have victory over all of his enemies with an army of only three hundred men! So be encouraged because right now God is with you, He is helping you, and He has a great and important job for you which He is equipping you for! And He is calling you to a sure and overwhelming victory!

After A Long Day

Photo: R. Navarrete

You woke up this morning with high hopes for a super parenting day! You prayed for your children while you got yourself looking as professional as possible in the five minutes you allotted yourself for grooming. You told yourself that you would be calm all day and keep your cool no matter what would happen in the next sixteen hours. You lovingly (but quickly) toasted their bread for bologna sandwiches in their lunch boxes and even wrapped them in extra paper towels so as not to dry out! You hurried out the door just in time to get the kids to school at 7:39 and to barely make it into the office at 7:59.

By mid-afternoon, things were going smoothly for you as a super parent! Your kids were home safely from school, and you were all laughing together and playing Marco Polo on the trampoline. You had to sneak back inside, which gave you a few moments to read your devotional for the day before naptime for the baby would be over.

But then your strong-willed child starts being disobedient to everything you say, and you realize it is 5:00. And the dark hours have begun (cue the Darth Vader theme song). In reality it's just one or two hours before Daddy comes home and a few hours before your angels in disguise will become sleeping angels. But during this hour, minutes feel like days. Did you text your husband already? Or is it too early to see when he is coming home?

While a few of the kids are in their rooms because they can't seem to get along, you run downstairs to fix a simple supper: home fries, garden salad, and butterfly shrimp (special request from your 7-year-old). You don't really have to cook anything--just prep it and throw it in the oven and wait. Meanwhile, chop your veggies and toss them in the salad bowls. Oh--and grill some more veggies to add to your salad because you only eat salads these days... The home fries look and smell amazing, but once they are done and you start taste testing them, they clearly are way too spicy for any kid to eat. You must have over-poured your Cajun seasoned salt.

For the third time, you try to round up the cattle because it is suppertime! The shrimp and salad go over well, but the potatoes remain untouched. No worries--your kids are full and happy and off to the trampoline again! While you try to clean up the kitchen, your son keeps motioning from outside for you to come and see something. By the time you make it out there, all the kids are off the trampoline and walking around the patio where the light fixture just broke by an accidental flying futbol. There is glass everywhere! The kids cry when you put them inside, but you have to clean up the glass before someone gets cut, right?

As soon as the glass is cleaned up, you go inside and your oldest tells you that the girls are putting stuff down the bathroom sink drain. Didn't you just tell them before supper that they cannot give baths to all their baby dolls in the bathroom sink? You hurry upstairs to find the remains of a toilet paper roll stuffed into the bathroom sink drain. Water is everywhere. Towels are everywhere. Wash cloths are everywhere. Wet unicorns and bears are everywhere. How did the kids even reach the wash cloths in the linen closet? What do you do? Put everyone in a separate room so you can focus on removing the cardboard from the drain and drying out the electronics from your baby's favorite stuffed bear that sings her to sleep at night.

Once your babies are in bed, you sit down for the first time all day and check your Fit Bit: 15,000 steps. The verse that comes to mind is: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). Everything you do for and with your kids may go unnoticed and unappreciated for a time, but God sees all that you do, and He rewards and blesses you for it. Do not give up, but keep planting those seeds in your children. Someday you will reap the harvest!