Yesterday, I had a really bad day. Thankfully, they don't happen very often, but I really felt under attack by the devil.
I ended up felling like millions of woman do in their lives.
Unworthy.
Struggling.
Weak.
Insecure.
Turmoil.
A tumult of emotions was raging in my mind, and spirit, as I struggled with all that was going on. It's incredible how ONE thing can spiral into a million things. One incident dropped into my day, and like a snowball, being lightly tossed from the top of a mountain, it gained momentum, picked up extra baggage, until it hit, smack dab, to the bottom. Bam! My day was destroyed, and everything just exploded all over my emotional mind.
I felt like the most horrendous mother, who has no idea what she is doing. Completely and utterly incapable of being the wife and mother my family deserves.
My emotions and thoughts were at a low. I didn't know what to think, or how to move forward. I felt paralysed by my inadequacies.
Strength? What is that, anyway? I felt completely drained of all vitality, with the strength of a newborn.
My mind felt like a newborn, too. A child-like mind, with no wisdom, knowledge or understanding, - not knowing what the right way forward in the situation. A mental blank and immaturity.
Overpowering it all was my tearful heart. I was so very upset, and the discord of emotions was clamouring in my mind, as I went over all my heartaches and struggles, mentally.
I was a mess, and it was everything I could do to end the day with any positivity.
Then it came to me.
My "Verse of the day" from my Bible App.
"The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."
Proverbs 18:10
The solution to my struggles was right there in my heart and mind, where the Lord had planted it right at the beginning of the day, before the trauma even hit.
Don't you love how God works?
It is such a simple rescue plan. It only involves us fleeing to the name of the Lord. Rushing, with all our might, to the NAME of the Lord. Uttering simply His name, and seeing who He is, brings us security.
I say "simply", but as I dwelt upon what seemed such a simple thing, my mind was bombarded with who the Lord IS, encompassed by His names, for He has so many. And, it was Isaiah that my mind was drawn to. In it, I found fresh strength for the mother who is struggling with all these issues which affect our heart and lives SO often.
"and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6
How often, these familiar words just become that - WORDS. WE KNOW that they hold such amazing truths, but the name becomes just a name, instead of a PERSON.
The name of the Lord, here, brings such comfort to the mother.
Do you feel unworthy? The Lord's name is WONDERFUL.
Our Lord - our God - is wonderful. When we feel unworthy, we need only to look to Him - to run to Him - and see how wonderful He is, and our unworthiness is replaced with wonder at His greatness. The fact that we ARE unworthy draws our minds to how Wonderful He is, too. A loving God, who sent His Beloved Son, to die for our unworthy souls. As the hymnwriter writes
"And from my stricken heart with tears, two wonders I confess
The wonder of redeeming love and my unworthiness."
And, because He saved a wretch like me, I stand WORTHY, through HIM. I may not be perfect, and I may not feel worthy of being in my position of wife and mother, but God's grace is greater than my sin - my wonderful God grants wonderful grace.
Do you feel that you are struggling? The Lord's name is COUNSELLOR.
When people have issues that they are struggling with, in this world, they often go to a counsellor. There seems to be counsellors for everything, these days, especially on the other side of the Atlantic. They can be a very useful thing, and provide much support. But, why go ANYWHERE, when we have our very own Counsellor, whose name we only need to call upon to run from trouble? We can go to Him with all of our needs, all of our struggles, and all of our weaknesses. His name is Counesllor, and He can give you the wisdom that you need. He will lead and guide you through your trials, and give you all the support you need. He has the answer to our struggles, right there in His Word. I'm not saying we will have all troubles vanish, but He will counsel us through them, by revealing Himself to us.
The other verse that comforted me yesterday, was James 1:5.
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. "
Not forgetting the promise at the end of that verse - the Lord is a reliable Counsellor - the wisdom we need SHALL be given to us. Not just in a basic way, but generously, and without berating us for needing to ask.
If you don't know what to do, and need a solution to your struggles, just ask God.
Do you feel weak? The Lord's name is MIGHTY GOD.
Oh, how I needed to remember that. Weak just doesn't seem full enough to describe how mothers can so often feel. It's not only physical, as we diligently seek to meet the needs of our family, but emotional weakness, mental weakness, and spiritual weakness. When the devil really attacks, our strength is sapped, leaving us powerless.
Except, we AREN'T powerless! We need only call upon the mighty God, and our strength will be renewed. The simple words of a prayer, lifted from the depths of our fragility, uttered simply - "Jesus" - and we have the Mighty God who is ready and willing to come to our aid.
"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength."
Isaiah 40:29
And how is that strength obtained?
Prayer.
Pure, and simple.
"They that wait upon the Lord"
"Call unto me, and I will answer thee"
Not a lengthy, wordy, intellectual prayer, filled with platitudes and empty phrases.
Simple.
Honest.
Wordless, even.
"Prayer is the burden of a sigh
The falling of a tear
The upward glancing of an eye
When none but God is near"
James Montgomery
The Lord's ear is open to our hearts. He "hears" our hearts, without us even uttering a word. He is ready, and willing, to be the mighty God that we need, when our strength has gone.
Are you insecure? The Lord's name is The Everlasting Father.
When we are insecure, we are thrown into that persona of a child. Simeon, just today, hurt himself. His immediate reaction? To call for me, and come running for comfort. A child feels secure and comforted, in the arms of a loving parent. We come to the Lord, as a little child, approaching our heavenly Father. That Everlasting Father, who is the one who can give comfort, solace and security.
"As one whom his mother comfort, so will I comfort you;"
Isaiah 66:13
" Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;"
II Corinthians 1:3
Do you see that? Those moments where we feel so utterly useless - when we feel that we have let those we love down - when we have been less than we ought to have been? Our Father is full of mercy. Instead of condemning, He showers us with mercy, grace and love.
He is forgiving.
He is kind.
He is gentle.
He is compassionate.
Just as we know, when a child comes to us, penitent and broken, that we need to show mercy, so does our Heavenly Father extend the same mercy to us. As our hearts are filled with love, when a child comes to us, so does our Father's heart shower us with love.
The struggling mother, filled with insecurity and thoughts of failure, need only turn to the Everlasting Father, who will give rest to our souls.
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Matthew 11:28-29
Heavy laden.
Burdened.
Labouring.
All such commonplace struggles in a mother's life - yet, we can cast our burden upon our Everlasting Father.
Are you in turmoil? The Lord's name is the Prince of Peace.
Peace.
Our days, filled with noise, stress and disharmony, are often the antithesis of peace.
But...
BUT, our Lord is the PRINCE of Peace. The ruler, the one sitting in high places, above the clamour of the world, bringing peace.
Robert gave me a plaque last year, that says this...
"Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm."
There is so much truth in that, but what is the SOURCE of that calm? Where is our ONLY source of true peace?
Jesus.
The Lord.
The Prince of Peace.
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."
Isaiah 26:3
There's the answer. We need to just keep our very MIND upon our Prince of Peace, to have that perfect peace. Our trust, placed entirely upon Him, knowing that His ways are perfect, and His plans unfailing. Trust is the acknowledgement of the reliability of God. WE can rely on Him to be everything we need, no matter what our life brings. The trials that He allows us to go through can be endured by the presence of His peace. Perfect calm in the midst of clamour, by simply keeping our mind upon Him. When our mind is focussed on the Lord, we see only who He is, in all His greatness, and our attention is diverted from our unrest.
Oh, struggling friend. Are you like me, and floundering in the sea of life? Are you struggling, feeling unworthy, weak and insecure, with peace seemingly from you circumstances?
The answer is so simple.
The name of the Lord is our strong tower. All the protection we need, in the battles of life, can be found simply in His name. We can run into it, and we can be safe.
Thou
hidden source of calm repose,
thou
all-sufficient love divine,
my
help and refuge from my foes,
secure
I am if thou art mine;
and
lo! from sin and grief and shame
I
hide me, Jesus, in thy name.
Thy
mighty name salvation is,
and
keeps my happy soul above,
comfort
it brings, and power and peace,
and
joy and everlasting love;
to
me with thy dear name are given
pardon
and holiness and heaven.
Jesus,
my all in all thou art,
my
rest in toil, my ease in pain,
the
healing of my broken heart,
in
war my peace, in loss my gain,
my
smile beneath the tyrant's frown,
in
shame my glory and my crown.
In
want my plentiful supply,
in
weakness my almighty power,
in
bonds my perfect liberty,
my
light in Satan's darkest hour,
in
grief my joy unspeakable,
my
life in death, my heaven in hell.
Charles Wesley
