Day 37

Three times today I asked God to help my car go into gear, and three times I had to keep my hand on the shifter, my foot on the brake and jump up and down, back and forth repeatedly like a madwoman to move the car out of park and get the shifter to go into drive. God answered my prayers after much struggle, leaving me exhausted, with hair going in every direction and hoping nobody at the library noticed the crazy mom shaking her car from the driver's seat. Reminds me of most of my days with kids—exhaustion, frizzy hair, hoping no one takes notice. Is there ever an EASY day with kids? Is there ever an easy day in life? 

God never promises an easy life, a life free of difficulty and pain. As parents we sometimes fail our kids. We give them the cookie they are whining for; we make their beds to save the hassle of forcing them to do it; we throw their uneaten green beans into the trash; I think I'll stop now, because my own stomach is cringing with conviction. But, God is not like that. He allows the struggle, the bits of pain, the unknowns, because He sees a much bigger picture. And, He is working for a much greater purpose. 

So, "What is God doing?" you may ask. I like the answer Stephen and Alex Kendrick give in their new book, The Battle Plan for Prayer, 
"He is thinking of His glory."

Deep deep deep down we sort-of think, "Bummer, and here I thought God was in it for ME all along!" Remember that verse, God's thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways? (Isaiah 55:8) In an amazing design of God, our good is completely intertwined with His glory (Romans 8:28). Don't forget—He died for YOU! He loves YOU! But, also don't forget—HE is God and we have been created for HIM (Isaiah 43:7; Romans 11:36). 

Our greatest joy is in bringing Him glory.  Maximum glory!   

The journal continues…

The believer who lives 'by grace, through faith' has no room for pride. She measures and compares herself with Christ, not with others. Thus, she cannot boast in her achievements or in anything, save in Jesus Christ. Legalists—lovers of the law—turn their noses at other Christians, but those who live by faith know true humility. 

The law is so appealing to us—we love to be able to measure our spirituality and check off our little 'godly to-do list' for the day—but Paul calls the law a 'curse' [Galatians 3:10-13]. It ends in death. Christ became this curse for us that we might end in life!

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live!  [Galatians 2:20]

My Dare:

To SHOW my kids their need of Christ. It is easy to breed little legalists—we say so much with our lips, but so little with our living. We tell them how big our God is and that they can trust Him. And, then they sit in their car seats and observe their stressed out mom, lost in traffic, trying to race against the clock, cast down from the many little troubles of the day and even blaming them for their late lunch because if she wouldn't have been distracted by the fighting in the back seat, she wouldn't have missed the turn 20 minutes back!

They don't see grace—a mom prayerfully trusting God through her day—they see law, complete with its high standards and zero tolerance for imperfection. Life is meant to be full of living—twists and turns, detours, bumps and curves in the road, just like the ones I love to drive every day to our home nestled in the mountains. How daunting it would be to go straight the WHOLE way! 

Where the path takes shape is when life gets good. Give them beautiful, pliable, life-giving grace!

Now that we have seen the binding effects of the law, should we just throw it out all together in the name of grace? Join me tomorrow as we come to the end of chapter three of Galatians where Paul explains the purpose of the law, giving us a picture of where law and grace should both come into play in our homes.