Mercy Every Minute
Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor
I have a splitting headache, yet I have three sick children to care for. I have a child who is not cooperating whom I have to deal with. I have a toddler who wants me to play baseball and teenagers who want to talk. I have to make dinner and it is after 7 p.m., I have a house that looks like a tornado, and I don't know where to start, let alone when. I certainly don't feel very virtuous. And, nobody cares about it all but me. At least that's how it feels sometimes, doesn't it? It feels like nobody cares about all that I do, about how I feel, or when I'll ever get rest. Welcome to motherhood. Doesn't sound all that glorious, does it?
The functions of motherhood are obviously important, but the main thing is that we give all glory to our God by how we respond to all these things that press on us. Giving Him glory in our everyday lives is what our children will remember and what matters for eternity. God will not say, "Well done-you were a good mother." But He will hopefully say, "Well done, you were a good and faithful servant and made my Son known to those I gave you."
Whenever we place too much importance on our office as mothers and our sacrificial tasks, the danger is that our focus becomes skewed and our emotions entangled. We begin to feel we deserve to be treated well, rather than the better focus of treating others well. We feel we deserve recognition for our sacrifices, rather than laying down our lives in response to the One who was made of no reputation and laid down His life for us. We feel we deserve celebration rather than pointing heavenward and saying that all glory must belong to Him, for there is no one good, not even one.
If we make it through one day in our own strength, we feel the right to shout, "Bravo!" But more often than not, our strength fails and we come to the end of our resources before we come to the end of the day. But if His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses and the excellence of His power has filled our earthen vessels so that we can not only make it through a day but come out victorious, we can shout "Hallelujah!"
So what is the danger of just one day of focusing on ourselves? For one thing, if all of these earthly "rights" of celebration are not met satisfactorily in our eyes, we are disappointed and sometimes even angry with those we are called to love and serve. However, if all is done for Him and through Him and with Him, then any day is worthy of celebration because it is He whom we celebrate. We can avoid all the trappings of anger and disappointment when we are not celebrated as we think we ought to be, and all the glory that rightly belongs to God is rightly given Him. For truly, without Him, we can do nothing.
This country applauds mothers once a year. But does heaven applaud mothers? Yes, it does, especially when mothers applaud heaven first. Does anyone really care? Yes, our Father in heaven cares tremendously and continually implores us to come to Him and find rest for our weary souls. But we must come.
A friend said to me today, "Plan the calm," and I couldn't agree more: Plan the calm by planning to spend time with your Father. Then, you will be the virtuous mother you desire to be, and God will get the glory.
~Deborah
