I haven't been blogging for long but so far really like it. I love writing and it's something creative I can do around this crazy schedule we have. It's an odd thing though, blogging. It's like you're letting someone (or a lotta someones) walk around in your brain and that's kindof a scary thing. I am usually pretty guarded about letting people into my brain. I can be sanguine but am a fairly melancholy and phlegmatic in my temperament and that means I'm careful about who I trust.
I started this blog because I felt like God was telling me to. After I wrote the first few I felt like "ok Lord I'll do it, but I'm not gonna actually tell anyone about it". And I didn't for almost a month! I knew I wasn't being fully obedient because the reason He had for me to blog was not just to enjoy writing. I'm past the not telling people part (so sorry if you're tired of seeing my posts on facebook!) but I still hold my breath as I hit "Publish". When you use facebook you see instantly what people think from their comments or likes. Blogs aren't like that though. I usually have no idea who is even reading it let alone what they think about it. And that's ok because having tons of people like me is not why I'm supposed to be doing this.
Proverbs 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.
We are to be living with a God focus, not to please people. Pleasing Him is to be my end goal with this. We are to raise our kids with that God focus too. I recently heard a speaker talk about how her kids were running around after church and she kept telling them to stop it. A friend started quizzing her on it - why can't they run? Are you afraid they will fall? Do you think they'll hurt someone? And the questions continued. Finally she blurted out - I don't want people to think I'm a bad mom! There it is. We don't want people to think we're bad moms. We care about what people think of us. Too much sometimes. That is so often behind our parenting, isn't it? Do you know that when you're raising your kids with that in the back of your brain, they know it. They know that when you get after them and that's what you're really thinking. Instead we are to be raising our kids with a God focus. There could be a very good reason for not letting them run in church, but it needs to not be about what others will think of us as moms. We need to train and teach our kids to live for God, not for pleasing people. The speaker I heard said that when we raise people pleasers we are training them for peer pressure. I hadn't thought about it that and but isn't that true? I'm sure you can think of lots you don't want your kids doing out of peer pressure. That thought alone was enough motivation for me to start examining my motives.
My mom was wise in many areas and one was that she wanted her kids to learn their lessons young enough that they wouldn't be paying for them for the rest of their lives. When you make sinful mistakes at age five they most likely will not affect you forever like those sinful mistakes at age twenty will. Pray for your kids to get caught when they are sinning - so you can teach and train them before they are off on their own. Praying for that is a scary thing! But wouldn't you rather they get caught shoplifting at ten years old than twenty years old where there are legal consequences?
Our kids will embarrass us sometimes but if your goal is to please God and be obedient to Him in your parenting, it won't matter so much what others think. Our end goal of parenting shouldn't be that of turning out perfectly looking and acting humans. It should be teaching and training and raising up kids who love God. People are fickle and sinful by nature. If our goal in life is to gain approval we will live an unhappy life. We just can't please everyone! There's nothing wrong with wanting people to like you but it's so much more important that God is pleased with you. Being obedient to Him is part of that. When we're obedient it doesn't mean life will be easy (or boring) but God will equip us for what He asks of us. He may be asking something of you because He wants you on your knees daily seeking His help with it.
Have you ever noticed that when He asks you to do something, it doesn't work out the way you would have planned it? Or it doesn't happen with the timing you would have preferred? It often happens at the last minute or in the midst of chaos so He can get the glory for it. Because it's not about us. Every time I've written a blog post I have been interrupted five million times. Five Million. I've had to stop and start, deal with poop, kid fights, a ringing phone, and laundry. I've locked myself in the bathroom in order to finish a thought and still had little people right there knocking on the door. Every single time, I have had a very busy day with lots on my "to do" list and did not have writing a blog post on it. Especially that one about sex - good grief! That came outta nowhere! I don't know what God is asking of you today. I know that He's asking some things of me that are not working out according to my plan and I'm just gonna have to trust Him.
When you are doing what He asks you're also going to see some enemy activity. Be prepared for that! The enemy knows your weak spots and doesn't fight fair - he'll go straight for those. Don't let it cause you to stop. If God's asking something of you, press on friend. Be obedient to Him. It doesn't matter what others think. Pray for wisdom, peace, and protection from the enemy and pursue His plans. Then give Him the glory when it all comes together.
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