Working Moms – Part 4 of 4

Interestingly, the Proverbs 31 woman was not suppressed by the male-dominated culture. In those days, it was expected of most women to care solely for their homes. They seldom had equal opportunities and most of them were uneducated. Sadly, it’s still like this today in many countries and cultures around the world.

This woman described in Proverbs 31, however, was someone with authority. She had the freedom to make her own business decisions and to earn her own money. Nowhere in the passage does it mention that her husband controlled her affairs. He doesn’t even seem to be threatened by her business savvy. Instead, he seems to have had full confidence in her decisions and even praised her for her accomplishments.

She seems to have been her own boss, which would have allowed her to choose her own hours. Perhaps, when her children were small, she didn’t have so much time on her hands to pursue being an entrepreneur. During this time, she might have acquired or developed skills that later became useful in business ventures.

Sometimes even hobbies become careers. Endeavor to put your energy into those things that give you fulfillment, and God will bless you. Never underestimate the potential that God has placed in you. Give yourself permission to be the unique you that He made you to be, and watch Him put it all together.

No matter the job, business, or career, we must never make money our priority. We cannot serve both money and God because our hearts will follow after one master or the other. That doesn’t mean that we can’t pray and ask God to give us success in our work, but if money becomes the issue, then it will have control over us. If we live for the pursuit of money, we will rob ourselves of living joy-filled lives.

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Poem - Gardens of Joy

Once I was destitute, a captive of sin,

But then You gave me life and dwelled within.

You took my waste places, You took my tears,

You took my heartaches, and all my fears.

You took that pot, which was made of clay,

You took all of my darkness and made it day.

Then gave me wings, made me into a silver dove

With yellow-gold feathers, covered in Your love.

You gave me rivers and gardens of joy;

Things more precious than some material toy.

You gave me gladness and also thanksgiving

And filled my heart with continual singing.

In light of all this, what can I give in return?

Worship and obedience from a love that is firm.

by Christina Morley

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Joy and a Thankful Heart – Part 3 of 3

All believers are meant to have the joy of the Lord consistently operating through them, but this is often not the case. After taking a quick look at regular Sunday morning churchgoers, we might conclude that this joy is present, but if we were to look closer we might be surprised to find that many are just doing a good job of role playing. All the smiles and nice clothes hide the turmoil, the depression, and the loneliness. God’s joy doesn’t hide these things, but acknowledges them.

I chose to marry in my husband’s country of South Africa and settle there. Moving to a new country didn’t bother me much because I had lived a good part of my childhood outside of the United States. Once I started having children, though, I became more housebound and isolated. It was during those long, lonely hours that I often didn’t feel like being thankful. I’m an extrovert, so I get energized by being with other people.

I missed having a decent conversation with another female. When I did get the chance, those conversations were few and far between. I did try building some new relationships, but for the most part the ladies I met were busy enough with their own friends and families. Cultural differences also made it harder to connect. Missing out on meaningful relationships made raising children that much more stressful.

We may not always be able to change our circumstances, but whatever our disappointments, there is still one thing that we can change and that is ourselves. It’s usually during the tough times that we grow most. As long as we maintain the right attitude, we’ll continue moving forward; however, if we have a bad attitude, we’ll just get stuck in the situation we’re in and never pass the test.

One lesson that I’ve been learning over the past sixteen years, no matter if I’m socializing or not, is that God is enough. I’m thankful for my relationship with God, which is good. Also, my relationship with myself is good. I’m happy to be who God made me and I don’t pretend to be someone else for other people.

I recommend you also read my poem, "I See You" at Consider the Lilies, my poetry blog.

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Joy and a Thankful Heart – Part 2 of 3

Joy is not a feeling that just comes and goes like natural happiness. Natural happiness is gained by the ups in life and not the downs. Joy, however, is supernatural. You can have joy even in the midst of great trials. God gives us the grace to live joy through it all.

If that is the case, then how can we maintain our joy? Joy is maintained by nurturing a thankful heart.

It’s easy to be thankful when everything is going right, but what about when adversity strikes? How do we react then? The ultimate test is to see if we can be thankful while experiencing difficulties. It takes courage to trust God no matter what, and it takes even more courage to thank Him in the thick of things. Thankfulness is a Kingdom principle that protects a person from getting knocked off course.

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A Busy Day

Keeping Focus

We are living in an extremely busy society, but what are we spending our time and energy on? Are we carrying all that stress and strain for the right reasons? Our motives determine whether we’re being busy for the right reasons or not.

The result of being distracted is that we lose focus. When we lose focus, then the enemy finds ways to steal our joy, our hope, our future, and the fruit of our labor. Our labor produces spiritual fruit when it’s endorsed by God, but becomes meaningless when it’s not.

How can we lead busy lives and still keep our focus? How can we live in a natural world where dishes need washing, meals need cooking, or laundry needs doing and still feel like supernatural beings in the sense that we are part of a spiritual kingdom too?

Living a Balanced Life

Whatever the work is that we are committed to, it’s not meant to rule our lives. We need to live balanced lives. By allowing God to lead us in our activities, we won’t be jealous or feel unfairly treated by others. If, however, we continue to live like Martha, we’ll run out of steam and eventually burn out totally.

Jesus knows that without Him we can do nothing. Just as the vacuum cleaner cannot work until it is plugged in and switched on, so we too need to get plugged into Him and switched on. He wants to be our Source and our Life.

It’s His holiness working in us and through us that makes our work of lasting value. It’s not about having the perfect day, but it’s about doing our best and leaving it in His hands. When our lives are flowing out of a relationship with Him, then we’ll live victoriously and successfully.

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