One of the things I’ve learned about parenting is that the best thing we can offer our children isn’t found only in what we do for them. It grows out of who we’re becoming in Christ. The patience, wisdom, grace and strength we need as moms are cultivated in God’s presence first. Today’s devotional from my sister, Priscilla Shirer, is a reminder that before we’re mothers, wives or leaders, we’re daughters of God. And the more we are rooted in that identity, the more faithfully we can show up in every role He’s given us.
“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.“
—ROMANS 8:18-19 CSB
I was elbow-deep in dirty dishes when her image appeared on the television screen. A svelte woman, clad in sleek, tight-fitting athletic gear, racing like a gazelle through her morning exercise. Her ponytail bounced in rhythm with her pounding strides upon the pavement, as a single tear of sweat ran dramatically down her temple toward her chiseled jawline. Lean. Swift. Powerful. Beautiful. I was spellbound.
“There’s an athlete among us,” the deep commercial voice-over intoned, as thirty seconds of envy dripped from my sudsy, rubber-gloved fingertips. Yes, “there’s an athlete among us,” he said . . . “disguised as a wife and mother.”
Ahhh. Disguised. She changed diapers and cleaned dishes and washed clothes. But none of that negated the fact that she was also something more.
What’s your role or occupation? Wife? Mother? Executive? Manager? Single woman? Ministry director? Friend? Widow? Grandmother? Those are each significant things to be and do. And yet they are not, in and of themselves, the sum total of who you are. They are only your divine disguise . . . the veneer around “the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created” you (Col. 3:10). Underneath it all, you are a Christ-follower imbued with the presence of God. You are part of a royal priesthood who’s been redeemed, set free, and gifted to fulfill His purposes for you on the earth. You are not just a woman who works and leads and often cleans up from the same supper she also invested a good hour or more in preparing. You are a participant in the plan of God on this planet.
The roles we play, and to which we’ve been called, are important. So we fulfill them with all of the faith, hard work, and commitment that God’s Spirit musters in us. But we must continually remember that these roles don’t tell everything about who we are, or about the power plant of spiritual vitality God has placed inside of us for being the kind of person who is on heaven’s assignment.
All of creation wants to see that woman “revealed”—released, unveiled, turned loose. The ordinary tasks that come along with your roles in this season of life are not merely chores to be endured. They are opportunities for a disciplined, determined daughter of God to transform them into activities brimming with eternal meaning and purpose.
Wonder what this day, in fact, might reveal about you.
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
—GALATIANS 3:29
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