Category: parenting

Where Strength is Found

Lisa Preuett

Sometimes I feel worn down. Extremely weak. Physically, emotionally and spiritually. All of the above. Strength seems far away. Non-existent. Yet I feel I must DO something to gain strength.

To gain strength physically I exert myself full force into a weight lifting session or a 3-mile run. After I DO those things, my physical body will gain strength, stamina and endurance.

To gain emotional strength I can DO something to lift my mood. Dive into a favorite book. Put on an upbeat CD to re-focus my attention. Or maybe even convince myself that something sweet like ice cream or chocolate will soothe my frail emotions.

But to gain spiritual strength, what is my first response when I feel weak?  I can DO some things that will perhaps make me feel better: Go to church. Turn on the Christian radio station and sing my heart out. Go to my Bible study. Call a trusted friend and unload my concerns.

These are good things, yet all of them involve me doing something. According to Isaiah 30:15, there’s a different message to those who are feeling weak and in need of strength:

In quietness and trust is your strength. 

I don’t see any action verbs that stand out in that verse. Shouldn’t I be doing something to gain strength? How can being quiet bring strength? And what about that word trust? How do you know someone is in the act of trusting? You can’t see it. Where is the action here??

The action is being accomplished by God Himself. When we are still and quiet in His presence, His strength becomes ours. When we truly trust God, our burdens are lifted from us. He takes them from us–in His strength. We don’t have to DO anything outwardly in our own strength. He does it all.

Quietness and trust go hand-in-hand. Being still before Him with a surrendered heart allows us to soak up His presence. And when we do that, it is easier to trust. When we know Him more intimately through His word and prayer, we can confidently trust Him. That is where our strength is gained. Not by anything we do, but by being in Him.

What’s that look like in day-to-day life?

I don’t always get this right. In fact, I frequently get this wrong and have to be humbled before I start to “get it”.

In the midst of a drama-packed melt down from my daughter, shouldn’t my strength come from yelling, lecturing or punishing out of anger?

In quietness and trust is your strength. (Lisa, pray for your daughter and trust ME with her short comings.)

In the midst of a disagreement with my spouse, shouldn’t my strength come from arguing, complaining or even taking things into my own hands?

In quietness and trust is your strength. (Lisa, let go of your pride and trust ME with your husband.)

When I’m sitting in traffic on Bardstown Road and only going two miles in 30 minutes, shouldn’t my strength come from honking my horn or mumbling ugly words under my breath at complete strangers who can’t hear me?

In quietness and trust is your strength. (Lisa, take a deep breath and accept the situation as it is. Trust ME to calm your anxious heart.) 

Because of my sin nature, I am prone to try and DO something to gain what feels like strength in the heat of the moment. Yet those things all lead to disappointment, discouragement and even defeat. But when I quietly come before God and trust Him, I gain peace, hope and ultimately……STRENGTH.

So where are you feeling weak, dear friend? From where are you drawing your strength? Are you trying to muster up strength by doing things you think are productive? Are you impulsively reacting to a situation in which you feel weak? How do you handle the inner battle of your heart to DO -vs- BEING QUIET? Feel free to leave a comment! We’re on this journey together.

May we all embrace the truth and power of these words:

Isaiah 30 15

 

From Stress to Rest

Lisa Preuett

“A woman who lives with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule will often ache with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul.”

(Lysa TerKeurst from her latest book The Best Yes)

After hearing this truth, I can’t seem to get it out of my heart. In fact, I desire for it to stay there….for good. This truth resonates so deeply in my soul and it makes sense after really digesting it fully. Why? Because this is where I live. This is so often my life in a nutshell. I feel pulled in so many directions. And many of those directions are good things! Yet some of those directions are my own human flesh. Things I want for myself. Things that aren’t part of God’s plan for me.

Oh how I long to fully embrace God’s purpose for me in every area of my life. Every area. My marriage. My parenting. My relationships with friends. Anything God calls me to do.

So if I am feeling overwhelmed, something is wrong. Very wrong. Overwhelmed is not a word I see Jesus using to describe his calling while upon this earth. Overwhelmed is not a word listed in the fruits of the spirit. Overwhelmed is not supposed to be something that describes a follower of Jesus.

Yet we use this word frequently to describe our lives:

I’m overwhelmed with my job.

I’m overwhelmed with my kids’ demands.

I’m overwhelmed with my husband’s expectations.

I’m overwhelmed with serving people.

I’m overwhelmed with everything.

Can you relate to this truth? Do you feel stressed out with an overwhelmed schedule? Do any of the above statements resonate with you? We’re certainly not alone.

So what’s the answer to feeling overwhelmed with all the things we feel pulled to do? Or feel pulled to be?

I do know for certain that my Jesus calls me to rest in Him. To give my burdens to Him. To surrender my soul to Him. The central verse for my life is from the words of Jesus in Matthew,“Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.” While I cling to this truth with my entire being, sometimes I just need something practical to flesh out what this really looks like.

One thing I will be doing over the days ahead is reading the book by Lysa TerKeurst called The Best Yes.  I can already tell it’s going to be profound and speak to where I live. I recommend it to you as well, dear friend.

In the meantime, I’m going to be looking closely at my schedule to make sure it’s God’s schedule. Anything outside of that will bring stress. I want to replace my stress with His rest!

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.”

Stressed-Woman-adrenals

Give Up and ASK FOR HELP

Lisa Preuett

Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us..”

The other day I was pondering this passage of scripture and the word ask seemed to jump off the page at me. Just days prior to reading this passage, I experienced something with my daughter that God used so powerfully to drive home a much needed message I needed to hear.

My daughter is very strong willed and quite independent. She frequently has a hard time asking for help in any given situation. She was attempting to fix the adjustable strap on her new pair of jeans to make them fit her waist just right. After several failed attempts, I asked her if she needed help.

NO Mom! I can do this myself!(eyes rolling as she blurts this out.)

She became more and more frustrated at this point, continuing to fidget with the elastic strap that just wasn’t cooperating with her. Her frustration grew as we were trying to get out the door to go somewhere. All along, I watched her. Waiting for her to get to the point of wanting my help.

Finally……she broke out in tears, heaved a heavy sigh and looked at me with desperate eyes.

I give up! ! Will you help me, Mom?

Of course I helped her, smiling at her while fixing her strap. Once the tears stopped and she had calmed down, I asked her why she didn’t ask for help sooner. Her response caught me off guard and God spoke loud and clear to me through it.

I really thought I could do it by myself, but it was much harder than I thought!

I am JUST like my daughter when it comes to certain areas of my life. I think I can handle them on my own. But I let pride get in the way, and I don’t want to admit I need help. Or admit that my way isn’t working. No wonder I sometimes feel overwhelmed and frustrated!

And God is there watching……waiting……for me to call out to Him. Waiting for me to admit my weakness and humbly ASK Him for help. Just as I waited for my daughter to become desperate enough for help, God so lovingly and patiently waits for us to call out humbly to Him.

So what is it for you? What are you hesitant to ask for help with? Challenges in your marriage? Difficult season with your kids? Or maybe it’s another area of your life causing constant strain and stress. Whatever it may be dear friend, I want to encourage and challenge you to humbly drop to your knees and ASK HIM for help. Go ahead and admit you can’t do it on your own.

He is waiting. Waiting for you to cry out to Him. Ever so patiently and lovingly. (With much more patience than we could ever offer when we’re frustrated with our stubborn kids!)

Look at Ephesians 3:20 again:  He wants to do immeasurably MORE than what we ask for! As a follower of Christ, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

Image

 

Keep The Fire Going

Lisa Preuett

On yet another frigid, cold day I am attempting to keep our house warm. For us it’s not a matter of turning up the thermostat. You see, we have a  wood burning furnace that heats our home quite efficiently. The biggest benefit is that our electric bills have gone way down during the winter months. The only downside to our furnace is the fact that somebody has to continually keep putting wood in it throughout the day……at least four to five times per day to keep it burning consistently. If not, the fire will go out. Usually the “somebody” who takes care of this job is my dear husband! But since he’s on another business trip for a few days, that somebody is ME.

Lisa, don’t forget to check the furnace every few hours. Don’t forget to put a few pieces of wood in there. Don’t forget or……” Yeah, I know…….the fire will go out.

Well, if you know me then you know I can sometimes get too distracted and in my own little world. I’m often on full- speed- ahead mode trying to cram in as much as possible in 24 hours. I checked the furnace early this morning and it was cranking out the heat! I should have checked it again before I left to run some errands. But no, I was in too much of a hurry. The fire might keep going, I thought. I won’t be gone that long. Again, if you know me, then it’s no surprise that my intended 30 minute trip to the grocery turned out to be almost two hours.

So guess what? When I got home, THE FIRE IN THE FURNACE HAD GONE OUT!

There were a few small coals still glowing, so it wasn’t totally hopeless. Yet it was much more difficult to get it started again. The fact that it was 22 degrees outside sure didn’t help. If I’d just taken the time to put two or three logs in there before I left, it would still be going. But no, my negligence now made it more difficult and took up more of my time. I have learned that if I want to keep the fire going, then I have to intentionally be more aware. Aware of the time. Aware of the condition of the fire. Aware of how cold it is outside.

Just as I must take initiative to keep the physical fire burning, I must also take initiative in keeping my spiritual fire going.

Leviticus 6:12 speaks of what the priests in ancient Israel had to do: “The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out.” They had to work diligently to keep the fuel supply stocked up or face serious consequences.

Praise God that Jesus is our ultimate sacrifice and His people no longer have to offer physical sacrifices. But Bible scholars point out that the word “fire” in this passage can be symbolic of our faith. And the altar can be symbolic of our lives.

So what are you doing in your life to fan the flame of your faith? Are you spending time in God’s word faithfully? Are you sitting still long enough to really hear Him speaking to you? Are you allowing Him to use the gifts He’s given you for the building up of other believers? Are you bearing fruit where God has planted seeds?

Or perhaps your fire is growing cold. If so, don’t despair! Even if you only sense a few coals barely glowing in your heart, you can humbly ask God to breathe new life into it and get the flame burning again. Be encouraged that God is like a consuming fire. Once the kindling ignites and spreads the flames, our fire can burn bright and long again.

Just as Paul exhorted Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God”(2nd Timothy 1:6), let us be challenged to do the same! I pray dear friend that you’ll stay physically warm on this cold day, but more importantly I pray you’ll keep your spiritual fire going.

fire

 

Lisa Preuett