June 2009

God Sees

Megan Breedlove June 29, 2009 0Comment

Precious mommy friend, this devotional is going to be a little bit different from the ones I usually write. I don’t have a story involving one of my kids to share; I don’t have anything funny to say. But I do have a word from the Lord which He wants me to share, so that in the writing of it I may be encouraged, and in the reading of it, you may be.

In the Bible, God reveals Himself in many ways, often through one of His names which is especially relevant to the situation. The name I want to focus on this week is El-Roi, the God Who Sees.

In Genesis 16, Hagar recognizes God as El-Roi because He responded to her in her time of extreme need. Therefore, she knew He must have seen her in her despair. And because there is no shadow of turning with God, we can know that He sees us, too. He sees us not only in our times of suffering or difficulty, but always. He is intimately aware of even the smallest details of our lives.

So may I offer you some words of encouragement this week? Some ways in which God might see you as you go about your mothering?

When you’re so tired you’d give anything for just fifteen more minutes of sleep…when you can’t remember the last time you slept a solid eight hours…when weariness is coloring your world in shades of gray…God sees.

When you carve time out of your day to spend preparing a nice meal, only to have your kids reject it…God sees.

When you’re awake—again—in the middle of the night, feeding a hungry baby, and it feels like you’re all alone in the world…God sees.

Or when it’s the middle of the day, and you’re lonely because you haven’t had time for a good, long phone conversation with your best friend, much less time for a lunch date, because you’ve been busy mothering…God sees.

When you clean up vomit or give another dose of cough medicine at 3 a.m….God sees.

When you do the best you can, and it’s still a horrible day…God sees.

When you need a friend…

When you need encouragement…

When you need strength…

When you need sleep…

When you spend all day doing things that no one notices (though they would certainly notice if you didn’t do them), remember…God sees.

Friend, you do not walk alone. God walks with you every step of the way. He sees what you do for your family, which is ultimately what you do for Him. He knows how hard it can be. He knows that sometimes, being a mom doesn’t seem so great. He knows we sometimes have to struggle for patience, for creativity, or for endurance. He knows it’s hard to be a great mom on four hours’ sleep…or when you’re going it alone…or when other circumstances in your life are crowding in.

But best of all, not only does He know, He cares.

Just as “listening” involves hearing, but is so much more, I believe that in this passage, “God sees” refers to the reality that He both sees and cares. And as if that weren’t enough, He does something about our struggles, just as He did for Hagar. He comes to us. What an incredible encouragement to know that God has chosen to be with us—in us—as we live our lives!

Try something this week. As you go throughout your days, remember that God is El-Roi, the God Who Sees. In your spectacular moments, in your mundane moments, and in everything in between, He sees. He cares. He loves.

I can think of nothing more incredible than that.

Be encouraged, dear friend.

Genesis 16:13– She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Moving Away

Megan Breedlove June 22, 2009 0Comment

My 6-year-old, Ellie, has beautiful curly hair. She loves it, and I think it looks pretty on her. The only problem is that she doesn’t like to wear barrettes in it or wear it pulled back. That means it sometimes gets really, really tangled.

Combing Ellie’s hair (actually, we use a Hello Kitty brush, which she insists hurts less than an actual comb) isn’t a pleasant event for anybody. Ellie certainly doesn’t enjoy the pain of having the tangles coaxed from her hair, and I don’t enjoy her screaming and crying. I can be gently removing a tangle from her hair, and she will suddenly, shrilly scream as if I am ripping her hair out by the roots. The tears flow quickly and copiously.

One day, I was brushing Ellie’s hair as we stood by her dresser. She kept moving her head around, trying to escape the brush. Instead of helping, this actually made the whole thing worse. I wasn’t able to remove the tangles gently because I couldn’t ever tell where her head was going to be next.

“If you keep moving your head away from me, it makes it harder for me to comb your hair without hurting you,” I said.

But Ellie was convinced that if she held still and submitted to what I was doing, it would hurt worse. She didn’t believe me when I told her that if she did what I asked, it would actually hurt less.

We respond to God the same way, don’t we? He begins to orchestrate something in our lives, and we fear it will be painful, so we move away. Hold still, He tells us. But fearing the pain, we continue to squirm, hoping that somehow, we can make the pain bearable if we can avoid it in some measure.

The truth is, refusing to submit only makes our circumstances more painful, not less. If Ellie had cooperated with me, the pain would have been lesser, and it would have been over sooner. But because she didn’t trust me enough to believe that it was in her best interests to do what I was telling her to do, she resisted, and she wound up causing herself more pain than necessary.

The same is sometimes true with us and God.

Trying to squirm out from under the circumstances God has caused or allowed into our lives never helps. In fact, it always makes things worse. True, there are times when He lets us sin and go our own ways, but there are also times when He is determined that we must comply. And if God has ordained that He will accomplish a certain part of His will in our lives, we cannot avoid it.

Our choice, then, is not whether or not we will have to go through the circumstances, but whether we will accept God’s will without fighting Him. Will we believe Him that submitting is in our best interests, or will we choose to rely on our own wisdom that says that trying to avoid the pain might result in actually doing so?

God never causes us any more pain than absolutely necessary. Sometimes, however, we cause our own pain when we keep trying to move away from Him. Resisting God never produces the outcomes we hope it will. It never ultimately satisfies us. Sometimes, it even results in more hurt, because when we keep trying to move away from Him, it’s harder for Him to accomplish His will in our lives without hurting us.

Oh, friend, is there some area in your life in which you need to accept His will and stop fighting it? I know that your circumstances may be agonizingly painful. But do you need to stop fighting God? To stop causing yourself additional pain by struggling against what you cannot avoid?

Resisting God will not help you avoid the pain. It won’t make Him change His mind and remove the circumstances from you. It will only cause you to miss out on His comfort in your circumstances.

So stop fighting. Stop struggling against Him, and let Him hold you. Feel His strong, loving arms draw you close to His chest and hold you securely. Let His peace and His comfort flow over you. Let Him carry you through.

John 14:27—Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Matthew 23:37—O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

Psalm 91:4—He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Mommy Cares

Megan Breedlove June 15, 2009 0Comment

My daughter Lindsey is pretty hardy. She doesn’t get hurt easily—which is good, since she loves to try new physical skills. In fact, one day when she was not yet two, I had to remove her from the bathroom vanity twice and the kitchen counter five times. In the bathroom, she had climbed up on the potty and from there to the sink. To get onto the kitchen counter, she had pushed a dining room chair up next to it and climbed onto the chair, then onto the counter.

But on this particular day, she had hurt her toe.

I saw her crying, and I said something like, “You’re okay. Go wipe your nose.”

I was nice about it, but I knew she wasn’t really hurt. Lindsey thought otherwise. “My toe, my toe,” she repeated tearfully.

I looked at her toe. It looked fine to me. But looking at her tearful face, runny nose and all, I realized that she had really hurt herself, or at least believed that she had. Indestructible Lindsey was hurt.

“I’m sorry,” I said compassionately. “Now go wipe your nose.”

Lindsey got up and went willingly to get a Kleenex. I had given her what she needed. She was then able to move on.

I didn’t make her toe feel better, but I did make her heart feel better. You see, Lindsey didn’t need me to fix the situation; she needed to know that I cared.

Often, that’s the same thing we need from God.

Granted, there are times when we desperately want His help to fix a situation. But there are other times—many other times—when we can live with the situation if we just know He cares.

We live in a fallen world. All of us know that. We understand that that brings consequences—pain, sin, suffering, and even death. We know that not everything in life will go the way we desire, and for the most part, we have accepted that. We don’t rail against everything that happens to us, just the most painful things, if we rail at all. But even in the midst of a level of hardship we can accept, we want to know that God cares.

You see, that’s what helps us make it through—knowing that God cares about the details of our day-to-day existence.

When we come to Him and tell Him something hurts, we want to know that He cares. We don’t expect Him to fix everything, because we know that sometimes, in His infinite wisdom, He allows suffering. But just as Lindsey sought from me some evidence that I cared, so we seek from God the knowledge that He cares.

And we find it, again and again and again.

God cares more about us than we can possibly comprehend. He demonstrated His love and concern most blatantly when He watched His Son hang on a cross, dying. But He also shows His love every day, all day.

He provides the air that we need for each breath. He gives us shelter. He blesses us with family and friends. Not only that, He provides us comfort and strength any time we need it.

Any time, anywhere, God makes Himself available to us for comfort, wisdom, strength, or anything else we might need. Isn’t that incredible? The God of the entire universe is always, immediately available to respond to you. To me. If that doesn’t convince us that He cares, nothing will.

Friend, is there some area of your life today where you need to know that God cares? Could you make it through your circumstances if you just knew that He cared?

Go to Him. Tell Him that you need to know. Tell Him you need reassurance of His love and caring. He’s there, ready and waiting to give it to you, and He won’t condemn you for needing it.

It’s true that sometimes, God doesn’t make His presence as intensely felt as others. There may be times where He asks you to walk by faith, without the emotional experience you were hoping for. But even during those times, He will make His love and concern plain to you. He’s already done so throughout the pages of His Word, the Bible. He may use His Holy Spirit to speak to the needy places in your heart. He may use other people. Whatever the means, He will offer His comfort any time you need it. Why? Because He cares.

So go to Him. Tell Him what you need. And open your heart to receive the loving answer He will give.

1 Peter 5:7—Cast all your cares on him because he cares for you.

The Hard Way

Megan Breedlove June 8, 2009 0Comment

I think moms should get P.E. credit for changing diapers.

Why? If you’ve ever had a child like mine, you know.

My daughter Jessica is now sixteen months old. She is well past the newborn stage where at the most, all she did during a diaper change was cry. She’s even graduated past the stage where babies discover they can kick, and that doing so can interfere with Mommy’s changing a diaper and possibly cause enough trouble that Mommy will change her mind and leave the baby alone. Jessica is now to the stage where if she’s not interested in having her diaper changed, she puts forth some full-body resistance.

This often involves rolling from side to side, or even trying to roll onto her tummy and get up. She’s smart, and she usually waits until I have the least control over her body—that is, when I’m trying to hold the front part of the diaper on her tummy with one hand and use the other hand to bring the tab up and around to secure the diaper closed. She will roll to one side, almost onto her tummy. In the split second it takes me to realize that she’s done it again, she’s onto her tummy, and the diaper is history.

One day, I was attempting to change her diaper as she lay on her changing table pad. For some reason (she didn’t want to be messed with, or she didn’t want to lie down, or because it was the wrong day of the week), she was particularly fussy.

I tried to interest her in a toy we had hanging in that wall hanging thing you buy with a set of bedding—you know, the one that has several pockets for you to put toys or supplies in.

It didn’t work. Jessica continued to fuss and to squirm back and forth.

Finally, I gave up trying to convince her to lie there nicely and decided I was just going to have to make it happen. “All right, we can do this the hard way,” I said firmly.

I leaned over, using my forearm to hold down her torso while with my hand and the other arm, which was free, I was able somehow to get that diaper on her.

Jessica didn’t like it one bit. Realizing she couldn’t get out of the situation made her even angrier. She screamed and cried indignantly until I was able to pick her up and cuddle her (whereupon the tears magically ceased).

It didn’t have to be that hard, I thought as she calmed down. You might as well have submitted, because it was going to happen anyway.

Then I realized something. Sometimes adults struggle against the inevitable, too.

Have you ever resisted God’s will or direction for your life when it didn’t match up with what you wanted—or wanted to avoid? I bet you have. I know I have.

Just as a diaper change was necessary for Jessica, so are the things God allows into our lives necessary in some way. So why do we resist? Why do we kick and scream in protest until the circumstances stop?

We do it for the same reasons Jessica did. Sometimes, we hope we can prevent a thing from happening if we resist strongly enough. Maybe if God knows how much I hate this, he’ll stop, we think. Other times, we resist out of anger that we can’t have our way. When we realize, as Jessica did, that the circumstance is going to happen and there’s nothing we can do to prevent it, we scream out our anger.

But friends, we need to remember what I wish Jessica could have understood: the one causing (or allowing) our circumstances knows what is best for us, and he wouldn’t force us to submit unless it were absolutely necessary.

Had Jessica submitted to my attempts to change her diaper, the whole experience would have been more pleasant (or at least, less odious), and it probably would have been over sooner. If we submit to God’s sovereignty in choosing our circumstances, we may find the whole experience less hateful. It may also be over sooner, because sometimes, God allows us to remain in a circumstance until we’ve learned a lesson. If we make that take longer than it has to, it’s our own fault that the circumstances endure.

I don’t know the circumstances of your life, and I won’t presume to tell you why they are what they are. But I do know that God only lets what is necessary through his filter of protection and into your life, and I know that resisting what he has chosen cannot possibly bring you any good.

Instead, stop resisting, and accept the comfort he offers. If Jessica had accepted the toy I was offering, she would have had a fun few seconds playing while I finished up. But in order to accept the toy, she would have had to submit to my will for her at that time. Even so must we submit to God’s will if we want to receive the comfort he offers. If we are too busy fighting him or railing against our circumstances, we’ll miss the opportunity to be comforted.

We will go through unpleasant circumstances in this lifetime. There’s no question about that. The only question is, how will we go through them.

Acts 26:14—It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

2 Chronicles 30:8—Do not be stiff-necked as your fathers were. Submit to the Lord.

Nobody Cares

Megan Breedlove June 1, 2009 0Comment

It was turning out to be a rough morning.

As I sat at the computer, Ellie (four or five years old at the time) came to me and asked me to go up into the attic and get down something for her. I told her that I was busy. When she realized that she wouldn’t be able to change my mind, she walked away crying.

I could hear the sounds of her wails fading through the kitchen, dining room, and then living room. I sighed. Then, from the front of the house, came words loud enough for me to hear: “Nobody cares.”

I’ll admit that I was irritated. Very irritated. I got up and followed Ellie, who by this time was in her bedroom. I went in to talk to her—or, more accurately, let off steam at her. “How dare you?” I asked. “How dare you say I don’t care about you? All the things I do for you, and I do one thing you don’t like, and you say I don’t care?”

It wasn’t the right approach because I wasn’t approaching her redemptively at all. I was coming to her in anger. The talk was unsuccessful (mostly because of my attitude), and I came back to the computer, fuming.

But gradually, I began to hear God’s still, small voice in my heart, and I knew I had been wrong. Yes, Ellie’s attitude needed to be corrected, but I should have done so in love. Precious little children are not designed by God to be able to respond at a peer level to adult anger. By the time Ellie came to me a few minutes later, wanting to sit on my lap and have me hold her close, I was much calmer. I explained slowly, calmly, and lovingly that “I used to have a job where people told me I was wonderful and I made money, but I gave that up to stay home with you kids.” She was listening, so I continued gently.

“I used to be able to go out to restaurants and eat any time I wanted to, but I don’t do that as much anymore so I can stay home and make meals for you kids. I used to be able to buy myself lots of things, but now, I buy you kids things instead.”

After a pause, Ellie said thoughtfully, “I guess you do love me.”

She had gotten the message.

But she wasn’t the only one who had gotten it. I, too, had something to learn.

Through Ellie’s emotions, God caused me to realize that many times, we do the same thing to Him that Ellie did to me. We accuse Him of not loving us just because He does something we don’t like, or fails to do something we would like. If God really loved me, we think—because we wouldn’t dare address these thoughts to God directly—He would be helping me out more right now.

What would God say in response to our accusations? Perhaps He would remind us of His majesty and sovereignty without ever giving a direct answer, as was the case with Job. Or perhaps He might say something like this: “I sent my Son to die for you. I provide the very air you breathe and your ability to breathe it. I provide every material blessing you have. How dare you accuse Me of not caring?”

The reason Ellie’s comment bothered me so much was because she (though unintentionally) was implying that my love for her was lacking, when in fact, I love her with all my being and would die for her without hesitation if that were required of me.

When we imply that God doesn’t love us, we grieve His heart for the same reason. He loves us with all of His being, and He died for us without hesitation.

Have you grieved your Father’s heart by questioning His love for you? Have you implied, or even told Him directly, that if He really loved you, He would do things your way?

If you have, run into His arms and beg His forgiveness. His arms are still open to receive you even though you’ve wounded Him. Confess your sin of doubting His love and His goodness. Then, receive His incredible grace that receives you and restores you to a right relationship with Him.

Realize the truth and speak the words, “You do love me, God.” Then go, in the mighty security of His love, and doubt no more.

Job 42:5-6—My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.

June 2009

God Sees

Moving Away

Mommy Cares

The Hard Way

Nobody Cares

You Missed

Priorities

I Wouldn’t Do That

Little Things

8 Seconds