“Girl, you are superwoman!”
For once and for all let me dispel this myth. I am no superwoman, more like super mistake maker, super grace receiver, super Jesus girl. Truth be told, I am vulnerable. I get tired. I too have my kryptonite. If only you saw me when the pot of rice was on the stove burning, the baby was crying, trying to help three with homework and emailing the teacher about a missing assignment all at the same time; you’d would see my fragility.
Without my Jesus, I am nothing. Apart from the vine we are nothing.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
That’s as super as it gets. We should all strive to be super vine clingers. Have you ever tried to be Superwoman? Have you ever tried to do and be everything to everybody? How’d that work out for ya? I don’t know about you, but that left me depleted. You can only love through Christ who strengthens you. You can only give through Christ who strengthens you. You can only serve through Christ who strengthens you.
Beware of falling into the pit of perfection. Perfect wife. Perfect employee. Perfect mommy. There is no such thing. You don’t have to try to do all and be all. Stay in your lane and be proficient at what God’s called you to do. He’s given YOU a specific assignment so stick to it. It’s when you go picking up other things, in all YOUR super strength and might that your hands get too full you can get into trouble.
I invite you to join me in clinging fiercely to the Father. From this place you don’t have to worry about perfection but will be the recipient of his unmerited favor. Do you ever feel unqualified, inadequate, weak or incapable? Sometimes I do. Sometimes I wonder if all my efforts will pay off. But the wondering is usually a trick of the enemy. When he sees a crack in your finish, he attempts to seep his poison in. He’ll try to play on your weaknesses and parenting is an area in life where we can feel the most weak.
So what do you do when you’re feeling weak?
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Give Yourself Permission To Be Vulnerable
Open your heart, release your concerns and fall into the loving arms of the Lord. In His strong arms you can be vulnerable.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Not only are you made strong when you are weak, but God wants to use you right in that place of weakness.
When people see me with my children and say things like “Motherhood is your ministry” my flesh used to prickle because the voice of the accuser said, “Yeah but they didn’t see you roll eyes at your kid last night”. But I know the truth. I KNOW that the Lord has supernaturally taught me to love, nurture and shepherd this little flock. I know he’s using me right at my point of weakness. Just like He used Moses. Doubting Moses. Unqualified Moses. Fearful Moses. Moses who was fearful and ran from his staff when it turned into a snake; God told him to PICK UP that very thing and use it as a sign. The same thing that Moses ran from was the very instrument that would hit a rock to bring water to nourish the people and would part the waters so they could cross on dry land. God used Moses’ weakness and He wants to use yours too.
[bctt tweet=”Your weaknesses aren’t flaws to be magnified but opportunities for God’s grace to be glorified.” username=”inspiredfully”]
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Acknowledge That It Is Okay To Make Mistakes
Making mistakes is part of the human experience. Give yourself permission to experience a full range of emotions and partake in the depth and breadth of your personal experiences, including the messy days.
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Be Compassionate With Yourself
To be compassionate is to care about the misfortune or suffering of others. But where is your self-compassion? I say you owe it to yourself. Be compassionate with yourself. The danger of being too harsh with you is that it can translate to being harsh with others. If you are overly concerned with how other views you, you can end up being harder on your loved ones than necessary. Then you can become even harsher on yourself for having been harsh to your loved one when that wasn’t even your original intent. This can be a painful cycle. So as you extend compassion and grace to others, make sure you start with yourself.
Remember, in your weakness you are made strong. Be strong in His might today.
To continue this story, pick up a copy of my new book, Purposeful Parenting.
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
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