I am not sure why it is so easy to forget the very order God creates for us to have the most effective life here on earth. I find myself so often putting one before the other and it throws my whole balance off. In the past two years I have learned so much about the order in which God intends for me to live. I never really use to put much thought into the order but rather if I got it all done. See I was at the ending before I ever walked the beginning.
I am going to bold when I write today to challenge some who maybe never thought about these concepts.
I have always been a working wife and mother. God's word talks about putting our hands to the plow and I am the first to jump in with both feet. I put the precept in my heart and run the race until I can run anymore. If you go back all the way to the beginning when the Lord demonstrates how he wants us to rule our domain it's never with chaos and pure exhaustion but rather peace and a steady pace.
The first part the Lord really worked on with me was making my relationship with Him my first fruits. See He teaches us about giving our first fruits of our wages but I believe He is also speaking to us about our relationship with Him. When I stopped fitting him into my ever so long list of things to do but rather made him my very first manna of the day, my relationship took on new growth. See He had my undivided attention where I could hear His voice and soak in his word before the start of every new day.
Every time I compromise this percept in my day everything becomes a list of things to do rather than my domain He has given me to reign. The next thing He worked on with me is my relationship with my husband. When you have children it becomes so easy to place your marriage on the back burner and put all your children's needs first. After all the basic needs of a child can be quite demanding. However if were to look at how we structure our home and teach our children that first we love the Lord and second they see a love between parents that examplifies the very order God has called us to. It creates such a peace in our children and one they learn they can depend on.
Eugene and I have always been busy. So busy at times it was as if we were two strangers living in the same house. We forgot to communicate anything that related to our growth of our marriage but rather focused on maintaining the crazy structure we had built. I could never understand why I felt so distant but I chalked it up to having kids, work, ministry and so on. The Lord challenged me to look into his word about what my role as a wife was. I realized that I was failing miserably. Don't get me wrong all the things we were doing were great things in themselves however if they came at the cost of not furthering our marriage they longer were the effective things the Lord wanted from us.
We began to put more time into us and less time into the outside so we can stand firm together. I believe this is the key to many young marriages that are struggling. We never want to say that we are not where we started or that we need to be closer. It's as if we expect the Love tank we poured into our marriage prior to children and such is suppose to sustain us for years to come. I would challenge you to not let the enemy rob you and place you in a pit of believing that this is all there is to your marriage. As wise woman of God once told me that the needs of my husband have to remain before my children's or the enemy has gained ground to prowl in our home. When Eugene and I let everything else go in our life that we found importance in and brought it right back to the order in which God created. We began to go to new heights in our marriage and our parenting with our children. Hear me when I say we are a work in progress and growth remains as our motto.
The last thing the Lord really worked through me was after all the above things came ministry. Not before my personal relationship with God and really how could I ever minister on empty. Not before my marriage and not before my children.
Why is it so easy to get that balance off? I can catch myself often saying "Its for the sake of the Kingdom, so it has to be good?" How very off balance this is and why we see leaders burnt out marriages torn. This concept was incredibly hard for me. I'm a doer. God I want to do for your Kingdom. I want to make my life count! I remember when he spoke clearly to both Eugene and I and said not at the cost of the gift of your marriage and children.
When you read the word it says that when two are married they become One Flesh. I never really ever thought of that as a like a literal concept. Honestly though it is VERY LITERAL. You are one flesh. What we feed into our marriage and our children will be a direct outpour to our ministry here on earth. We aren't identified as pastor this or that. No we are identified by Christ in us! He made us One Flesh to love above all else to Love God and Love others.
Eugene has always been better at this than me. I mean he's kinda a saint. When I finally got ahold of this concept what I did become life changing. Not what I do do do but how I live live live. If I'm leading worship during our family devotions this is just as important as if I am leading it for a public setting. In fact I think its more important!
Ministry becomes so much more freeing when I removed the idealisms of what it was supposed to be. Instead I said God take who you have created me to be sown together with my husband and sowing the Kingdom of God in our home. From the outpour of that comes everything else. The word says WHATEVER you do, DO everything giving thanks to Jesus. Forever we said God what is your will what is your will where are we to be. This scripture become a life verse for us Col 3:17 that whatever we do we do unto the Lord. Everything we do is Ministry.
I hope that someone finds this freeing and challenges your thinking. I believe we will see healthier churches and leaders when we go back to the basics and forget all the other stuff we think we have to be or do.
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