Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
Is there something in your life that is causing you anxiety and strife? Do you feel torn between 2 paths, or maybe you have important and worthy (to you) priorities that are in competition with each other? I am convicted by this in my own life, and am sharing it here and being vulnerable as much for you as for me.
As a Christian woman who struggles with the competing priorities of work and family, I know full well the anxiety it brings. We are told that we can have it all, do it all, and do it all well. I believe that is a lie. It doesn't work that way in my life. I cannot seem to balance the competing priorities of work and family in a way that honors both. I am always more successful at the one I give the most attention to, and I don't have enough energy or attention to do it all well all of the time. We were created to serve the Lord, and to honor Him with our lives. I believe that, as a woman, God made me for a very special unique purpose just like he made men for a very special and unique purpose. We fit together with our unique gifts and blessings to make a whole. It is right there in Genesis. God created Adam, and then created Eve out of Adam because “… the Lord God said, “it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” Genesis 2:18.
Ever since being saved and reading and studying God's word, I am finding that, in my life, the struggle to be successful both at home and at work are competing priorities. As the years go by I am more and more convicted that I do not appreciate enough God's blessing in my life of an incredible and loving husband and fantastic children. I get caught up in the whirlwind of career, and, as I become more and more successful in that career, it overshadows my role of wife and mother. I get recognition at work in a way I don't at home. I get to use what I perceive to be my strengths at work in a way that I don't seem to be able to at home. The anxiety and the struggle comes when I choose my work OVER my home, which I am inclined to do, sad to say. Work, at times, is more fulfilling to me than my role at home (THAT was hard to write and admit out loud… oh the shame).
The anxiety that overwhelms me more and more, I believe, is God's message that my life is out of line with his will for me. The anxiety sends me to my Bible and to prayer, seeking His help. Every time I have a spell of anxiety that I can't manage on my own, He sends me a message like today's devotion which I have linked and copied below. These messages have happened so often that I simply cannot ignore it.
I am not preaching to you about this as much as I am sharing my heart and letting God work though my words if He chooses. I am not an expert on these things. Not by a long shot. I will never pretend to know what your purpose on earth is or how God is working in your life. What I DO know, is that ever since God saved me for His kingdom I have longed to do what I should in honor of His great love, and I believe I fail more than I succeed. I believe He has put the blessing of a husband like Chad and children like Ben, Rachel, Alex, and Gabe in my life for a reason. They should never take 2nd place to anything else, and I’m sad and ashamed to say, they often do.
This devotion from Truth for Life really spoke to me today... maybe it has something to say to you as well? Here is a link to it, and it is also pasted below: http://bit.ly/2L7y7F4
As a Christian woman who struggles with the competing priorities of work and family, I know full well the anxiety it brings. We are told that we can have it all, do it all, and do it all well. I believe that is a lie. It doesn't work that way in my life. I cannot seem to balance the competing priorities of work and family in a way that honors both. I am always more successful at the one I give the most attention to, and I don't have enough energy or attention to do it all well all of the time. We were created to serve the Lord, and to honor Him with our lives. I believe that, as a woman, God made me for a very special unique purpose just like he made men for a very special and unique purpose. We fit together with our unique gifts and blessings to make a whole. It is right there in Genesis. God created Adam, and then created Eve out of Adam because “… the Lord God said, “it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” Genesis 2:18.
Ever since being saved and reading and studying God's word, I am finding that, in my life, the struggle to be successful both at home and at work are competing priorities. As the years go by I am more and more convicted that I do not appreciate enough God's blessing in my life of an incredible and loving husband and fantastic children. I get caught up in the whirlwind of career, and, as I become more and more successful in that career, it overshadows my role of wife and mother. I get recognition at work in a way I don't at home. I get to use what I perceive to be my strengths at work in a way that I don't seem to be able to at home. The anxiety and the struggle comes when I choose my work OVER my home, which I am inclined to do, sad to say. Work, at times, is more fulfilling to me than my role at home (THAT was hard to write and admit out loud… oh the shame).
The anxiety that overwhelms me more and more, I believe, is God's message that my life is out of line with his will for me. The anxiety sends me to my Bible and to prayer, seeking His help. Every time I have a spell of anxiety that I can't manage on my own, He sends me a message like today's devotion which I have linked and copied below. These messages have happened so often that I simply cannot ignore it.
I am not preaching to you about this as much as I am sharing my heart and letting God work though my words if He chooses. I am not an expert on these things. Not by a long shot. I will never pretend to know what your purpose on earth is or how God is working in your life. What I DO know, is that ever since God saved me for His kingdom I have longed to do what I should in honor of His great love, and I believe I fail more than I succeed. I believe He has put the blessing of a husband like Chad and children like Ben, Rachel, Alex, and Gabe in my life for a reason. They should never take 2nd place to anything else, and I’m sad and ashamed to say, they often do.
This devotion from Truth for Life really spoke to me today... maybe it has something to say to you as well? Here is a link to it, and it is also pasted below: http://bit.ly/2L7y7F4
Patience in Affliction: Wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14
It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures that a Christian soldier cannot learn without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier for God's warriors than standing still. There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desiring to serve the Lord, does not know what role to play. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Retreat back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption? No, simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God, and spread the matter before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of help.
In dilemmas between one duty and another, it is best to be humble as a child and wait with simplicity of soul upon the Lord. It is sure to be well with us when we feel and know our own folly and are genuinely willing to be guided by the will of God. But wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in Him; for unfaithful, untrusting waiting is just an insult to the Lord. Believe that if He keeps you waiting even until midnight, He will still come at the right time; the vision will come and not delay. Wait in quiet patience, not rebelling because things are difficult, but blessing your God for the privilege of affliction.
Never grumble against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses; never wish you could go back to the world again, but accept the circumstance as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any selfish agenda, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, "Now, Lord, not my will, but Yours be done. I do not know what to do. I am at an end of myself, but I will wait until You part the floods or drive back my enemies. I will wait, even if You test me for a while, for my heart is fixed upon You alone, O God, and my spirit waits for You in the deep conviction that You will still be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower."
Want to read a commentary that I found helpful on the Biblical view of a woman in relation to a man as I struggle with this in my own life? http://bit.ly/2LkgxMS
