He refreshes & restores my life, my self; He leads me in the paths of righteousness, uprightness & right standing with Him – not for my earning it, but for His name’s sake.
Psalm 23:3
There’s a lot of talk about self these days. We are a selfie world. So I guess I wonder how so many of us moms lose our sense of self and who we are in the throws of motherhood.
For the last few years, I’ve been part of the movement that Heidi St. John started Momstrong International. The mission is to get women back in the Word of God. I’m so thankful for the community that it is because I’ve formed some close relationships with women around the country that are desperately seeking God. It’s not about home education, careers, hobbies, demographic, it’s just about women encouraging each other to be all they can be in Christ.
It is refreshing in a world where they tell us to wash our face (which is good skin care is important), call themselves nasty women (I’m still trying to figure out how that is positive reinforcement for women), and the never-ending pressure to look, be, act perfect! We aren’t perfect. We won’t be perfect until we see Jesus face to face! So let’s just put perfection back in the box of that belongs to Eternity and not in a fallen world.
Lean on, trust in, & be confident in the Lord with all your heart & mind & do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
This is how God restores and refreshes our lives and our sense of self when we lean on him and not our own insight or understanding. Let me tell you the minute we start relying on our own insight, watch those Daunters get lined up!
I read an article this morning about how the biggest risk to women post-natal is Chronic Sleep Deprivation. Man, I can attest to that being the truth. After my youngest was born, I stopped looking at what my FitBit told me my sleep was the night before because it was alarming. Yet my own understanding and insight were that I needed to keep forging out and doing EVERYTHING. Queue the Daunters!
There was nothing refreshing or restoring about that whole period of my life. I completely lost sight of everything. It took a major hurricane to stop me in my tracks. We lost power for 8 days and during that time the noise from the Daunters stopped. I had no phone, internet or cell service. It was exactly what I needed.
I was on the Launch team for Heidi’s book Becoming Momstrong and I had got behind in my reading. The storm had shut life down temporarily so I could hear from God. In Chapter 11 she had posted 3 prayer points that I need to sit and really pray about.
1. Pray that God will show you what needs to come off your plate so you can say yes to the most important things (see Matthew 5:37)
2. Pray that God will help you to rest in Him (see Matthew 11:28-29)
3. Pray that God will enable you to model healthy rest for your children (see Hebrews 4:9)
Two words stuck out “God will'”! He refreshes and restores our lives!!! We just need to ask Him to show us how and then not let our own understanding get involved and then trust Him. That’s when we can walk in His righteousness and be in upright standing with Him. Remember it’s not about us it’s about His glory!!!
He loves you so much and He has such beautiful plans for your life. Let that refresh your heart today!
One last thought, “He leads me in the paths of right standing with Him”. Standing, not sitting, not curled up in a ball hiding, not fallen down, STANDING. You aren’t standing alone either you are standing WITH HIM. So don’t let those Daunters lie to you. Get up! Take your sword in your hand and go fight for the Kingdom of God! As Heidi always says “It’s time to get off the bench and into His word sweet mama!!!”
Lord God, please restore and refresh our lives. Remove the lies of the Daunters has caused self-focus and help us to see our true self, the self that is You! I pray that You help us to not lean on our own understanding but to trust our ways to You. Lead us in paths of righteousness and let us all walk in a manner that is upright in You for Your glory. In Jesus’ name! Amen!
If you would like to find out more about Heidi St. John’s ministry Momstrong International and join the amazing community on her website click here. Monday, May 6th, 2019 is the start of a new Bible study for the month of May called Deep Waters: Speak Well.
