My Morning Out March 22, 2007
Posted by Erin in : General Lessons , trackbackJoe,
As you know I was blessed by you to have a couple of hours to spend any way I wanted this morning. As I thought about what I could do to refresh my soul, I thought back to a time when I was extremely refreshed. The time I thought about was our few months we spent in Greece. Now one reason I was so refreshed was because we had no kids and I could sleep as long as I wanted every night! But as far as being spiritually refreshed, I thought about a few things that I did in that time:
1. I had daily quiet times in prayer and the Word.
2. I read a lot of great books that fed my soul.
3. I exercised regularly.
4. I took a walk almost every night and listened to a sermon or soul-feeding music.
I thought about if there were any of these practices that I was missing out on these days. The first three I was still participating in (although the time is much shorter now with kids), but I was missing out on the fourth. So I took over two hours and walked around the city listening to three different messages.
The messages I listened to were 1) “What a Mom Can’t Do Without” by C.J. Mahaney, 2) “Jesus is in Your Boat” by Carolyn Mahaney and 3) “Parenting Seminar, Part 2″ by Kenneth Maresco. All were a great refreshment to my soul, but C.J.’s message in particular spoke to me, so I thought I would share some of those points here. And they do tie into the gospel as well!
First of all, just to encourage young moms out there. C.J. started off his message to young mothers telling them they were doing the hardest job and the most important job. This was a breath of fresh air to my soul, especially coming from a man who preaches and writes and effects thousands. He still believes our job to be harder and more important. The reason this was a refreshment to me was that I can often start to believe the judgment coming from the world that house wives are lazy, unintelligent and just sitting around playing all day. We are often seen as the lowest class of citizens. But it is just a lie from hell, so I want to encourage all the other young moms who are raising their children to keep persevering!
C.J.’s main point in the message was that we need faith. His text was from Hebrews 11:6. He emphasized greatly our need to trust God as mothers. He made mention that when on a panel for a parenting seminar a few years ago, he and Carolyn had been asked what was one thing they would go back and change about their parenting if they could. He said Carolyn immediately answered that she would trust God more. I know that despair often sets in for me and I am not trusting in God. I wonder if He has put me in the right place or given me the right kids!
The point that really drove things home to me was when he talked about the difference between faith and unbelief. He said that faith looks at God’s promises, while unbelief looks at the hard circumstances. I was hit with how much I had been focusing on the difficulties I was encountering, instead of the promises God has given us in His Word.
C.J. then finished by practically speaking on how we can increase our faith. He mentioned making our spiritual diet very particular in this stage of motherhood. When Carolyn was in this season, he recommended she focus her reading on the attributes of God and the promises of God. I had remember reading somewhere that Noel Piper made it a focus of her Bible reading for a year to note all the different attributes of God. So I am resolving to search the Scriptures eagerly as I read for promises that I can meditate upon during my days.
C.J. also made mention to something I was thinking as I listened, which was how the promises pertain to the gospel. If we are to truly believe the promises, we must be gospel-centered people. The promises are only for us if we have been bought and saved by the blood of Jesus. Only then do all their promises find their “yes” in Jesus for us. He who did not spare His own Son, also gives us great promises to live by, as He graciously gives us all things! Hallelujah!
So those are some thoughts from my morning. Thank you, love, for giving me the chance to get out and get re-focused!
Hoping in the promises through the gospel,
Erin
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