TRUTH FOR THURSDAY

This week I am continuing "Truth for Thursdays" on Being Refined As Silver. To read the first post on this topic click here.

Recently I have been reading the book "Lies Women Believe and The Truth That Sets Them Free" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I thought this may be a good way to share the lies we believe that she writes about, but more importantly the truths of God's Word. This book seems like a good one for a group to do together, but since I am doing it on my own, I would love to hear your comments about it.

THE LIE: "I DON'T HAVE TIME TO DO EVERYTHING I'M SUPPOSED TO DO"

THE TRUTH: "There is time in every day to do every thing that God wants me to do." (Nancy Leigh Demoss)

"Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered her and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42

"I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do." John 17:4

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

In John 17:4 we see that Jesus did all that the Father had given Him to do. He did not do all that the disciples had wanted Him to do or what everyone else wanted Him to do. Are we doing what the Father has given us to do? When we are feeling frazzled and overwhelmed with all that we have to do could it be that some of those things are not what He would have us to do? Even though those things may be good things, are they taking away from the better things? In Luke 10:38-42 we see that Martha was serving (a good thing) while Mary was listening to Jesus (a better thing).

When we try to do too many things, something ends up suffering. For some of us it is difficult to say no when asked to serve. I once heard a wise older woman say that when she is asked to do something she responds "I will have to get back to you". Then she prays and talks to her husband about it before making a decision.

What good is it if a woman is serving in every ministry at church, but doesn't have time to care for her home and cook nutritious meals for her family? Her family is going to suffer because she is spreading herself too thin. There are different seasons of life and each woman's priorities are going to change. We need to pray for discernment to know what it is that God would have us to do.

For those of us who are married, we can talk to our husbands about what is important to them as well. Maybe we are spending extra time doing something that we think they like and really it is something that doesn't matter to them. For example, I mentioned to my husband that maybe I should look into milling my own flour. I said it half jokingly because I wouldn't have a clue where to start. He laughed and thought that was an outragous idea. He is so happy with an occasional freshly baked bread and the fact that I try to bake from scratch rather than use premade mixes. I was listening to what other women do and thinking that I should be doing it too. When the truth is for me, it would not be wise to do at this time.

Okay, so time for me to apply what I am writing about. I am sitting here blogging and my daughter is up. So I need to get to the better thing of making breakfast for my family. Pray with me for discernment, that we would know what it is our Heavenly Father would have us to do at this season of life.