I am a mother of three - an 8 year old son, a 6 year old son, and a 2 year old daughter. I work full-time in ministry AND I get to be with my kids full-time. Oh - and we also homeschool. To put it lightly, I’ve been tired for a long time now. Especially since we had our third baby, Abigail.
Abby is precious and sweet and a ball of sunshine, but she is also bossy (hello future leader), strong willed (every hill is a hill to die on in her estimation), and sassy. She has me in tears of joy and tears of frustration most days.
Abby’s older brothers are starting to experience to full spectrum of brotherhood meaning they don’t always get along anymore and it can get pretty heated and wild between those two. Trying to teach the value of patience and compassion can be exhausting.
I recently came to a breaking point. I felt I could no longer carry on in our family’s current state and keep it together. I was snapping at the kids and getting really grouchy quickly. I found myself comparing myself to my husband and feeling the irritation of unmet expectations and honestly, things not being done my way. In my desperation for rejuvenation and peace in my heart, I reached out to the Lord in prayer again.
“Help me, Lord! I can’t go on this way. I’m becoming a mom I don’t want to be. I’m frustrated with everyone in my home all the time! No one is helping me. I’m drowning! Help me, Lord!”
Then I felt the Lord impress on me Colossians 3:23 “…do everything as unto the Lord.”
I had been doing it all for my kids, for my husband, to impress other people, and most of all… for myself. From that moment, I dedicated my heart to doing everything in my home as unto the Lord. If my husband didn’t do chores my way, it didn’t matter - I was doing chores for the Lord. If my kids made a mess, I was helping them clean it up as for the Lord. If there were a massive amount of dishes to be done, I was washing dishes for Jesus. If I had a mountain of laundry, I was washing the Lord’s clothes. If I needed to scrub a gross toilet, I was purifying my home for the Lord.
The atmosphere of my home began to change so much so that other people could feel it when they came to my house. While I have always struggled as a homemaker, I began to delight in sweeping my kitchen floor, making dinner for my family, helping my kids clean up their rooms, decorating my living room… making our house a home, a haven for my three children and husband to retreat to, to tuck themselves into its safety, to get covered in peace.
After all this change and a renewed spirit to do all the mundane with energy and joy, I sat in church one Sunday and thought about the atmosphere of our home changing from disorder and irritation to one of peace and comfort for my family… then I heard the Lord ask, “What about the atmosphere of my home - your heart - for me?” I went to inspect my heart and I felt the Lord affirm that HE was beautifying it and that beautification began with my dedication do you everything as unto the Lord.
Friend, if you are tired and need an awakening, emotionally or spiritually or mentally or physically, it’s time to dedicate yourself to doing everything as unto the Lord. I know I talk about obedience to God all the time, but the decision to say yes to the Lord births so much intimacy, enables us to hear him more clearly, ushers peace and joy into our life by the armful, and gives life to our mortal bodies.
Understand, obedience in and of itself is not the thing that makes us holy and happy - that would be by our works. Obedience moves the heart of God. Jesus said in the gospel of John that if we love him, we will obey him. FOUR TIMES he said this in just one chapter… it is that important. Obedience opens our heart to be made holy by God. 1st Peter tells us to be holy as God is holy… that’s BE holy, not DO holy. God brings transformation to the atmosphere of our hearts when we open ourselves to him through obedience… our declaration of love.
So friend, ask the Lord how you can obey him today and then dedicate yourself to doing everything as unto the Lord. It will bring life to your body and awaken your spirit.
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