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It shouldn’t be like this, you know?
This continuous feeling of being steamrolled by our own motherhood.
Sheer exhaustion. Day in. And day out.
Since when did we lose the actual core joy of our motherhood?
Enjoying our children...
God is not the one inviting us to add to our endless to-do lists.
He does not scream at us to do more, mamas.
No--His are the life-breathing whispers, inviting you to rest.
The screams you hear and pressure we feel? Those are purely of the world and its go-go-go mantra, fueled by Satan himself.
God?
Our Heavenly Father Above? He is the whisper above the world's shouts, "Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
There aren't many of God's children more weary and burdened than His mothers.
God does not call us to overexert ourselves in our motherhood. Absolutely not.
For, our Father? He calls us to rest. To come to Him when we are weary. To drink from His living well. To renew ourselves in Him.
To set down the unrealistic demands of the world.
And pick up the refreshing truth of His Word.
The Proverbs 31 woman often gets a bad rap as an example of a woman and mother constantly on-the-go. We tend to think that she worked--all the time. A ton of work. But, that's just the thing. It wasn't the amount of work that she did that set her apart, it was how she handled her workload...with God's unconditional grace and golden wisdom.
When the world screams at us, as mamas, that we are not doing enough, and that resting is not a vital part of motherhood, may we bring our minds back to Proverbs 31: she didn't strive for perfection;rather, she sought His grace.
Instead, she offers us the most beautiful reminder that we can become the "perfect" woman by the standards of our imperfect world--stacking up accomplishment-upon-accomplishment, but if we forget to reset and hold ourselves to the standards of our Heavenly Father Above, the quest for perfection is without merit.
When we humble ourselves through God's grace, and strive to do everything throughout our motherhood as if we are doing it for God, only then will we find true fulfillment and rest.
Because, God?
God doesn't keep a tally of our worldly rewards.
Rather, God keeps a tally of our heart deeds.
When the world looks outward, we can be rest-assured in our motherhood, that our Heavenly Father's eyes remain fixed inward.
And when we finally realize the value of God's quiet whispers amidst the unrealistic shouts of the world, only then will we find the true refreshment we seek as mothers.
Wouldn't it be something amazing, if instead of praising one another as mamas, for our Pinterest-worthy performances and achievements; we instead applauded one another for making time to rest. For stepping away from the unrealistic and relentless cries of the world to actually reestablish ourselves in the quiet, truth-filled whispers of our Heavenly Father Above and inhale the beautiful, overlooked gift of simply being with--and enjoying--our children, who are nothing short of His greatest blessings and gifts of all.
“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
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