Got grief? If you are a Christian mom, grief should be chasing you down daily. Why? because there is a devil and he hates godly people. One person has said that, if the devil isn’t against you, it’s because you’re walking with him.
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2 Timothy 3:12
The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
Psalm 37:12
This is just what life on planet earth is about. We strive to receive the prize of knowing Christ, the devil tries to steal from us, kill us, and destroy us and everything we have and do.
But wait, there’s more…
The devil wants to make us think that we have no recourse, that we just have to cover our heads with our arms while the sky falls. He also leads us to believe that pain and suffering and depression are God’s will for us in this life.
But he is a liar.
God does not want us sad and sorry and depressed. He wants us full of joy, and hope.
When I first came home as a mom, I thought I should experience the opposite. Everything I had read and witnessed said that women at home with children fight depression and even lunacy. I believed the lie that, if I didn’t have anything outside the home to keep me busy, I would automatically become morose.
But that’s not what God says. God has not only promised all of us joy, HE HAS SPECIFICALLY PROMISED MOMS JOY!
Yes, yes, yes–it’s true. Not only does God see moms at home who are pouring out their lives for their children, He has given them a specific promise they can rely on in every situation they face:
He makes the barren woman abide in the house As a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD!
Psalm 113:9
Did you catch that? “As a JOYFUL mother of children,” praise God!
And here is another secret that the devil is trying to keep from us: The kingdom of God is FULL of joy, and, for the believer, His kingdom is NOW.
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.Psalm 16:11
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:1-3
So, our lives are hidden with Christ with God, and in His presence is joy, joy joy!
It doesn’t seem logical, I know. We are accustomed to trusting what we can touch, taste and feel, but there is more to this life. The tangibles we experience every day are not eternal, they are temporal. Now, everything physical is not evil, but everything physical is subject to the spiritual, if we allow our minds to be renewed by the Word of God so that our perspective can be changed.
To illustrate, let me tell you a story from my own life…
We were in the midst of some enormous trials, not ones that lasted a day or two, but the type that lasted years. The struggle was tiring, exhausting even. Somewhere in the mix was the idea that God wanted us to suffer, so we should be good soldiers and trudge along, carrying our hopelessness like a huge weight on our backs.
Then, one day, my son came up to me and asked me a question: “What do we pray for when we recite the Lord’s Prayer?”
To which I answered:
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
“And what exactly is happening in God’s kingdom right now? Are they worried? Are they depressed? Are they carrying heavy weights of woe and discouragement?”
Finally, it dawned on me. It wasn’t God who was bearing down on us, it was a lie of the enemy. Here is Psalm 16:11 again:
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.Psalm 16:11
FULLNESS of joy
PLEASURES forever more
That’s what God wants for us, that’s the kind of God we serve.
Yes, in this world we will suffer tribulation, that was the realistic prediction Jesus left us with. We will still may have babies who keep us up at night, and the toilet may will still clog, and the neighbors may think we’re loony, but God has promised we can live above and beyond all of these things. There is perfect peace promised to us if we keep our gaze on Him:
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
Isaiah 26:3
This isn’t just a theory. It is real. I know because I have experienced it in the midst of attacks to every part of our lives (and, believe me, having 15 children means there are potentials of all sorts of trials and tribulations). The peace of God, the joy of God, is more tangible to me than any circumstance I face.
Much needed reminder! Your video is unavailable though.
Thanks for the heads up! I fixed it 🙂
God’s been showing me lately that we as moms sometimes feel guilty about pursuing joy in the Lord when our kids are struggling. It’s as if we subconsciously believe that we’re not doing a good job as moms if we’re not out of our minds with worry in frightening situations with our kids or if they’re not dragging us down with them in their trouble. Doesn’t worrying about them show we love them? Thank you instead for your teaching that God is calling us to joy in him, and that it’s NOT godly motherhood to embrace a life of anxiety over our kids. This truth comes through in so many of your posts, and I’m grateful for your perspective.
That’s so true! If I hadn’t grabbed on to that truth I would be in a loony bin, praise God for His grace:)
Thank you thank you thank you! A mama I never had!
So glad you were blessed 🙂