When His Grace is Enough

It was 4:30 AM. 

“Mom, I wet the bed.”

Jesus, please help me.

“It’s okay, buddy. Let’s get you out of those wet clothes and change your sheets.”

It was another early morning, waking up to another problem I couldn’t fix. It was another new day full of surprises, unknowns, and depleted energy. 

Jesus, please help me!

Thankfully, the littlest didn’t wake up on the lower bunk as I tucked the middle back into his dry upper bunk. It was early enough that I could squeeze in a short nap before getting up again. 2 hours later, I was awakened to another little voice. I missed my alarm, and the littlest had not come to my room to announce his presence. He was sitting in the living room chair after wetting his bed, too.  

Jesus, HELP ME!

Another load of laundry into the washer. It was Monday, and I just finished all the laundry on Saturday.  

Here we go again! 

I’m not a morning person from the very moment I wake up. I need at least 10 minutes and that first sip of coffee, so waking up before my kids is essential to my day going as planned. It gives me a few minutes with Jesus, and allows me to wake up so I can just be “Jessica”, before I’m “Mom.” Some days, I feel like I’m on the verge of breaking. But it is my stubborn heart and will that make me feel like I’ll shatter, when instead I can submit to His plan that will enable me to bend and flex my faith. Is it my selfishness that needs to be shaken out like a dirty sheet and washed clean by the truth of His Word?

Being a mom isn’t even close to easy, and it has its way of shaking out the selfishness in the heart of believing moms. My husband and I just had a conversation about this very topic this week. He said something I will not likely forget: “Many people want kids, but fewer people want to parent.” That hit me hard. Parenting is the most challenging job. Whether you’re a mom or a dad, it’s hard because you are consistently faced with the choice of others over self.  

It brings me comfort to know that Jesus knows how I feel. I marvel at the fact that we can learn so much about God’s character through the parent/child relationship. When I’m faced with a moment of frustration, the Holy Spirit often reminds me of the words Jesus spoke in Matthew 25:31-40

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” 

The Greek phrase for ‘the least of these’ is elechistos, and the superlative of that which translates ‘least’ from Greek to English is ‘mikros’, meaning small, little. Of age: less by birth, younger. This passage is clearly Jesus talking about serving persecuted Christians. However, I know that as a believer, I’m called to an outward focus. Every time I fold a load of laundry, dress a little body, make a meal, hand out a snack, or refill another water bottle, I’m serving the least of these, the mikros. I’m serving my savior. I don’t believe that this text limits our service to children, but I do think it most certainly includes them.

Motherhood is one of my greatest ministries, and the blessing of it isn’t wasted on me. I’m doing for others what they can’t do for themselves. Isn’t this what Jesus has done for us? It doesn’t come easily or without obedience and sacrifice. It comes with an abundance of grace. The grace I need to push my selfishness aside and serve. The grace I need for the strength and energy to keep moving forward. The grace I need to say the hard things and discipline with consistency while displaying the grace I have so lavishly received. His grace is enough for me!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  II Corinthians 12:9-10

In this text, the Apostle Paul is relating his weakness to the strength of God’s never-ending grace. He begs God to take a specific suffering away from Him, and God, in all His sovereignty, says, “No, I have something better for you: my all-sufficient grace.” (paraphrase). This is a paradox of Scriptural truth that communicates that when we operate outside in our weaknesses matched by His grace, our faith is strengthened and His glory is revealed.  Sometimes, God calls us to operate in the giftings He has given us, and other times, it brings Him more glory to lavish us with grace to do the things we couldn’t do without it. 

What have you begged God for help with or asked Him to take away from you so you didn’t have to walk through it? Does it seem like others have it altogether, leaving you feeling weak or unskilled in your calling? God is ready to answer your cry for help with a resounding, “YES! I have just the right amount of grace to empower you for that.” 

His grace is always sufficient.

Ardently His,

Jessica 

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