Today I’m thinking about experiencing abundant life in difficult seasons. A difficult season for me was being a new mom. Let’s be honest, parenting is a tough gig! When I became a first time mom last year, I literally had no idea what that was going to involve. If I were to answer the question: What’s the biggest surprise you had about being a mom? I would answer something along these lines: How tiring and exhausting and constant it is… but also how much my heart has been stretched to fit in so much love for this little person.
I’ve never been stretched so much in my life. I remember constantly saying to my husband, “I used to be able to handle things! I can’t handle this. I don’t know what I’m doing.” Been there? Maybe it’s parenting a newborn or maybe you feel this way parenting a teen. Maybe this feeling of not knowing what I’m doing never really stops… and maybe that’s ok.
It took a switch in my heart to realize I was trying to do it all on my own strength. The voice of the enemy became really loud in my head. He told me a lot of lies in those first several months of parenthood. The feeling that I was failing was the biggest lie I had to battle.
I had a hard time praying because I didn’t feel like God was answering my prayers the way I needed him to. It was a struggle for a while. Eventually, I just made the choice to believe Him even though I didn’t feel like I was getting the answers I needed. I made the choice to believe His promises to me and I tried to walk in them daily. Once I turned my worries into worship, things started to slowly change. God began to show me that I’m not alone in my struggle. The biggest gift he gave me was other moms to talk to or learn from who had been exactly where I was.
What does life abundant look like when we’re in the thick of a difficult season, whatever that might look like for you?
Jesus’ life wasn’t easy. He had so many trials and heartaches, all the while preparing to carry the weight of the sin of the entire world on his shoulders. Jesus modelled life abundant, even in the thick of it. How? He remained intimately close with His Father. Luke 5:16 says: “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” When things got crazy and out of control, Jesus would often just take a breath, retreat to the wilderness and pray. As moms, we can’t always escape to the wilderness… but, we can find a quiet place in our heart or mind and go from there. (And other times we actually physically take a break- hire a babysitter, get Nana to watch the baby, leave Daddy on duty… because we need that too.)
I don’t think we are meant to avoid the hard and messy of our lives. For a long time, I operated as though the hard and messy were to be avoided. But I’m learning that the hard and messy shapes us just as much as the good and beautiful, if not maybe more. So I’m not going to try and avoid the hard and the messy parts of life anymore…instead, I want to learn how to embrace them and continually look to my Father for peace, strength and hope.
When I remain in close relationship with my Father - talking with Him throughout the day, asking for His strength in me, begging for wisdom, worshipping him with my thoughts, actions and words - I experience abundant life, no matter what the circumstances of my day or season of life may be.
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