This start of 2018, I’m experiencing new beginnings and learning new levels of putting Him above all, even ministry and family. He’s been showing me how loving my family is a sacred calling that can only be accomplished well in daily dependence on Him.
Three months ago we welcomed our third baby to the family! What a transition it has been going to a family of 5, with 3 kids under 5! God has such a sense of humor. When I thought “what’s one more, how different could it be?” I’m sure He got a good laugh! Her name means “Pure Gift from God” and that is EXACTLY who she is! I am blown away each day by what a gift she is and how much the Lord is using her to continue to purify me and what he has called me to.
One thing I tell clients frequently is that God prepared Moses for his calling of leading the Israelites out of Egypt by calling him first to be a husband and a father, highlighting that their primary mission field is at home. I now find my own words ministering to me as I am being reminded daily of my dire need for the power of the Lord to love and care for my family well.
I have been humbled by the realization that it took 3 children before I found myself truly seeing my family as my first and primary ministry calling. While I may not have voiced it, I know I have been guilty of thinking of my role as a wife and a mother as having less kingdom value than my role as a counselor.
However, after deep reflection, I think this false belief served as a distraction from the reality that I cannot successfully love my family in my own strength. I tend to be more naturally gifted at school and counseling. Because of this, it seemed as if I could accomplish these things fairly well without great dependence on God. However, being a wife and a mother is a different story. I wasn’t quick to see this as my primary calling from the Lord. In fact, not acknowledging it fully and devoting myself to developing my more natural gift of counseling, actually protected me from facing the difficult reality that on my own, I am not capable. “…apart from me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).
I wonder if Moses excelled in school. He had probably even been blessed with natural leadership qualities. But I wouldn’t be surprised if being a husband and a father also required Him to face his natural limitations and offered him the opportunity to begin to depend on the supernatural power of the Lord. I wonder how different of a leader he would have been if he had not submitted to his first call as a father, if he would have seen it as less than? Would he still be regarded as one of the heroes of the Old Testament?
What areas of your life might the Lord be calling you into greater dependency in Him? Where do you find it the most difficult to love as He does? Is it possible you have seen your own family as secondary to ministry?
Praying for great blessings as we continue to find strength in our weaknesses and allow ourselves to be humbled before the Lord. May He be glorified in every corner of our lives! “Lord, in our weaknesses, may you overwhelm us with your love and grace, reordering our priorities to put you first. Because apart from you, we can do nothing! Amen.”