I co-parent teenagers. The daily dilemmas, disputes and doldrums can leave any parent feeling pretty defeated by day’s end. If I don’t carve out time to remember who He is and who I am in the midst of my week, the frequent storms will wear me down.
Together, let’s take time this week to recount a few basic yet extraordinary truths to help us stay emotionally and spiritually afloat as we cling to Him in the midst of the mundane and marvelous tasks of the day before us.
“You are His.”
You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
I Corinthians 6:19b-20
Swaddled in a blanket with a striped cap on her head, my newborn was gently placed beside me in bed that evening. I stared at her for hours, repeatedly telling her that I loved her and that she was mine.
Over the next 19 years, two more children came into our lives along with various trials and tribulations. Each of these helped me to learn that what I had whispered to my first baby was only partly true. Yes, I loved her. But, she was not really mine. God had lovingly bestowed her and our other two children to us for a season. Through the years this truth has offered me great comfort, knowing that His love and affection for them would ultimately shield them from harm. At times, it also frustrated me, however, when He would allow something to happen that I didn’t foresee or desire. In those moments I would find myself wrestling once again with this overwhelming and powerful truth.
Even though relinquishing control has been a difficult journey, sometimes it’s even harder to let go of the grip I have on my own life. I can easily forget that I belong to Him as well. In a world where the idea of submission and surrender are often negatively correlated with imprisonment or oppression, we can be seduced into taking control of every aspect of our lives. Everywhere we go, the message “I belong to me” is imparted. Quite honestly, even many children’s TV shows instill this belief.
I am not my own and you are not your own because we have been bought with a price. (I Corinthians 6:19-20) He has full ownership of all of our gifts, talents, body and possessions. It’s all His because we are His. While the world may mock a mom who surrenders all that she has to a God she cannot see, remember that membership has its privileges. I am reminded of a portion of the poem by Patrick of Ireland:
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me
Be renewed and refreshed this day, knowing that because you are His, you have been given unmerited blessing, freedom and peace.
Jackie