Love them like Jesus

1 Peter 5:6-8 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Good morning my cape wearers. Where is your cape taking you today? What are you facing that is causing you anxiety?

I know for me personally, my calendar has been causing me some anxiety. I know that I look at this planner every morning and wonder how am I going to accomplish all of this today.

So often, we as women like to take our God given responsibilities and make them burdens. Oh I have to take her to dance, the boys have scouts, I have to get fuel, go to Walmart. It almost seems like an endless list of responsibilities and to do lists. But how is our heart while we are doing those things. Are we waiting for Prince Charming to come in and tell us that he is going to do the dishes or are we delegating them out to our children so that we have more free time. The spectrum has a lot of room here. We all have ways that we get our lists done, we all have ways of muddling through.

I think the importance of it is our hearts. God has ordained our days. I believe he knows our loads. I think that there are a lot of times that we run through life, sliding in sideways, because of lack of planning or too many hours are spent whining about what needs to be done instead of just doing it.

So many women look to their husbands to help, and there are some out there that will do that. They like to cook, they like to do dishes. It's not that way here, but I have heard rumors of it among my friends. My husband and I do the things for each other that the other one hates. I hate to get gas, I don't know why, just do. My husband is good to do that for me. I hate the responsibility of paying the bills, you know what, he does that too. He hates the kitchen except to eat. He likes grilling (something about fire), and he is the pancake king around here. But for the most part, I do the housekeeping and he does the earning and distribution of the funds. It works for us. Wouldn't work for everyone but it works for us.

There are days though, when my husband is out of town, or working late, or something comes up that I might have to help him. I might have to run and pay some bills, I may have to balance the checkbook when he is out of town. He might have to provide food for the kids if I have a meeting. It still has to get done whether I want to do it or not. This time with him out of town I have had what I deemed a lot of extra responsibility. Oh I was whining and grumbling. How dare he run off and leave me here to handle this? How dare he call me and ask me to do one more thing? I have a plan, a schedule, I have my own things I need to do. Ah yes, the martyr returned.

God knows, he knows that I have done more than I usually do. He knows that I had to pick up a few more things, but he also knows that I can handle it. Otherwise it wouldn't fall to me. He has trained me for my job. 34 years experience has led me to this moment. Here is the kicker, even while doing it, I am supposed to minister to the needs of others.

What happens when we are running late? Do we take the time to walk casually looking around us for needs or opportunities? Or do we just run around looking needy ourselves even if for nothing more than a watch. Are we showing up late expecting something, someone to look at our burdens and lift them for us, or are we showing up with something to offer. Are we prepared for our day? Bra - check, shoes - check, Full Armor of God....whoops I put that on in the morning while I am doing my makeup and I skipped that today. Do we look like Godly women or do we look like everyone else? Do we look like princess or do we look like servants. If we are walking around looking like pack mules all the time with the kids in tow, half put together, if someone had a need would they approach us or would they think we are too busy?

OUCH!

If we are to be the salt and light in the world, if we are supposed to reflect Jesus, can we do that with bad attitudes about our responsibilities? Can we be negligent in our preparations? Can we wait until the very last minute to walk out the door? Oh we can, but we may miss it.

If we aren't careful, our imaginations of how heavy our burdens are, can leave us vulnerable to the enemy. "You poor neglected thing, how dare they ask you to do one more thing," "What a lazy man you married," "Those kids, all they do is hang on you all the time". We begin to compare our loads to others, wow, that's a scary thing to do. I know women who do so much more than I can imagine, but there are some women who say the same thing about me. There is no comparison. No way to compare one husband to the next, one family to the next.

Hear, O mountains, the LORD's accusation;
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the LORD has a case against his people;
he is lodging a charge against Israel.

"My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened you? Answer me.

I brought you up out of Egypt
and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
also Aaron and Miriam. ~Micah 6:2-4

Lord, today I hand you my calendar and say have your way. My responsibilities are light compared to carrying a cross. Your word say that if I have faith of a mustard seed that I can move mountains and Lord I believe that with faith I can move this mountain. Lord, I am to be about my Father's business even as I am doing my daily duties. Lord I trust you as the Creator of time that you put enough time in the day, Lord I just pray that you help me know what is of today and what is not. I repent of thinking that my schedule was too busy to take time to love the ones around me. Lord I thank you for the opportunities that cross my path, to meet new people to learn new things. In your Precious Sons Name Christ Jesus I pray. Amen.