I hate the spots and stains in my carpet. Each day I come home and there they are, staring at me and bigger than they were the last time I looked at them. My husband was the neat freak. He was the one that always kept everything clean, neat, and orderly, and I am failing miserably. It also makes me feel like I have failed him in some way and failed God too by not keeping the carpet spot free.
I also feel very inadequate about being a mom. I never had time to read all of those baby books all pregnant women are suppose to read during pregnancy. I still feel guilty over those moments where I felt like I had to choose between caring for a dying husband and caring for a newborn baby. Pregnancy and motherhood isn't suppose to start out that way. And so, when I miss something on my child or miss something I should have been teaching him months ago, I feel very inadequate as a mom.
However, in reality, these things aren't a big deal. Stains in the carpet aren't a big deal. Filling your head with baby knowledge during pregnancy isn't a big deal, because once you're home with that baby, you won't remember most of what you read. Missing teachable moments with an infant or toddlers isn't a big deal, because each moment of their lives are teachable moments. So what's the big deal? Why do things get so blown up in my mind?
I magnify my inadequacies. I see something I don't like, or something another person doesn't like about me, and I dwell on it. My mind parks right there at that negative thought, and before long, I'm planning to gut my house over spots in the carpet. I think my child is doomed to a life in diapers because I haven't been working with him enough on using the potty. So often I make my inadequacies into these huge mountains, when in actuality, their size is really smaller than a grain of sand.
My focus needs to be on Jesus, not my inadequacies. If I would put my focus on Jesus instead of my inadequacies, how magnified would Jesus be in my mind, heart, and life! My focus has to be on Jesus, not on how I don't measure up. I will never be good enough, I will never measure up, and the great thing is I don't have to!
Whatever your inadequacies are, remember that Christ is made strong in them. Whenever we are weak or are inadequate, we should do as the apostle Paul did, and boast in them. Why? Because where I am weak, Christ is strong! His wonder-working power shines through and works best in my weaknesses!
I also feel very inadequate about being a mom. I never had time to read all of those baby books all pregnant women are suppose to read during pregnancy. I still feel guilty over those moments where I felt like I had to choose between caring for a dying husband and caring for a newborn baby. Pregnancy and motherhood isn't suppose to start out that way. And so, when I miss something on my child or miss something I should have been teaching him months ago, I feel very inadequate as a mom.
However, in reality, these things aren't a big deal. Stains in the carpet aren't a big deal. Filling your head with baby knowledge during pregnancy isn't a big deal, because once you're home with that baby, you won't remember most of what you read. Missing teachable moments with an infant or toddlers isn't a big deal, because each moment of their lives are teachable moments. So what's the big deal? Why do things get so blown up in my mind?
I magnify my inadequacies. I see something I don't like, or something another person doesn't like about me, and I dwell on it. My mind parks right there at that negative thought, and before long, I'm planning to gut my house over spots in the carpet. I think my child is doomed to a life in diapers because I haven't been working with him enough on using the potty. So often I make my inadequacies into these huge mountains, when in actuality, their size is really smaller than a grain of sand.
My focus needs to be on Jesus, not my inadequacies. If I would put my focus on Jesus instead of my inadequacies, how magnified would Jesus be in my mind, heart, and life! My focus has to be on Jesus, not on how I don't measure up. I will never be good enough, I will never measure up, and the great thing is I don't have to!
Whatever your inadequacies are, remember that Christ is made strong in them. Whenever we are weak or are inadequate, we should do as the apostle Paul did, and boast in them. Why? Because where I am weak, Christ is strong! His wonder-working power shines through and works best in my weaknesses!