Enjoying Motherhood Part TwoExemplo

Enjoying Motherhood in the Power of the Holy Spirit

by Deb Weakly

Friend, sometimes life on this earth is just plain hard. We live in a broken world, with broken people, and we ourselves, are broken women.

I remember many days when my kids were growing up where I was just plain exhausted from lack of sleep, all of the laundry, sibling fusses, and overly high expectations of myself and others. There were days when I completely lost it: I yelled at the kids and threw temper tantrums, then cried my eyes out to God because I just couldn’t seem to get it together. I felt like a bad mom.

Can you relate, dear sister? Do you struggle with yelling or getting super frustrated with your kids? We all have trying times that test our patience and faith, but the wonderful news is that we don’t have to do anything on our own. Jesus wants us to come to Him for help with anything and everything! Yes, we will always make mistakes because we are still human and have to deal with our own flesh nature that wants to do what it wants to do. But there is hope for us as we learn to walk with Jesus one day at a time, and He is there to help us when we ask.

One of my all-time favorite Scriptures is John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” What a beautiful Scripture! I remember reading it for the first time and thinking to myself, “What a relief I don’t have to try to do the right things on my own.” The pathway to the joy-filled life I wanted for myself and my family was simply staying close to Jesus and letting Him lead the way. He is so faithful and speaks to us in so many ways, including through His Word, prayer, other Christians, and the inner voice inside of us. That inner voice is the Holy Spirit who dwells inside of us and gives us the power we need to live the triumphant life God has for us.

So much of the goodness in our lives comes from keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. Trouble comes when we go ahead or lag behind. When we become Christians, God gives us the precious Holy Spirit as a deposit for the life that is to come when we are in fellowship with our blessed Savior in heaven. Earth is the broken place; in heaven, all will be perfect. Here we have sorrow and suffering; there, all will be whole.

Living in the power of the Holy Spirit while we are on this earth is the very best way to live within the confines of the brokenness and the beauty. The very presence and filling of the Holy Spirit are what we need to be whole in this world. The Holy Spirit is where we get our strength and our power! Just like we receive the energy for our bodies from the food we eat, we receive the energy for living the victorious Christian life from the Spirit of God! And when we live lives characterized by keeping in step with the Holy Spirit, we will begin to produce fruit.

Pray with me today:

“Holy Spirit, please open my eyes to the ways in which you work in my life. Help me to stay in step with You and not lag behind or go ahead. I want to notice Your daily presence in my life and to learn to hear Your voice. Speak to me through Your Word daily, and make me aware of all of the ways You show Your loving kindness to me. Give me a thankful heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”