Am I the only mom who has to repeat myself?
Sometimes I feel as though no one in this house is listening (including the dog).
The other day, while playing a game of “Go Fish,” I found myself having to repeat the same command of “go fish” before my son would draw a card. At one point my six year old looked right at me and said, “Geez! You didn’t have to say it twice!” But obviously I did because he didn’t listen the first time.
What is ironic is this week over and over again God has been giving me the exact same message. He has given it through scripture, through podcasts, through Holly Furtick at our virtual woman’s night, through a book I am reading, through every single avenue that I have been listening to this week. And yet, like my son, I am getting annoyed because also like my son, I obviously haven’t heard Him. OK, I have heard Him, I just haven’t “heard” Him, ya hear me?
I’m guessing I again am not the only one who fails to follow instructions. What is the thing God has been telling you to do? Have you been taken out of your comfort zone? Has COVID or other life circumstances made changes in your “normal”? Are you constantly worried, stressed, anxious, overwhelmed? Do you have a fear on a spinning hamster wheel that just won’t seem to stop?
This week, I began to read Dangerous Prayers by Craig Groschell and in it he says,
“What I fear the most revealed where I trust God the least.”
As I read those words I felt like I was sucker punched; my breath knocked out of me.
If you read last week’s post, Uncomfortable In-betweens, you probably have figured out my biggest fear revolves around the book launch this week.
How is it my biggest fear is doing something God has called me to do?
Shouldn’t this be the one thing I can trust Him with? But I haven’t. I have not fully entrusted Him. I still want to control, to question, and to plan.
In Matthew 17 we find an interesting miracle,
24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”
25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”
26 “From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
There is a lot that can be said about this scripture in regards to taxes and law, but I want to focus on the miracle.
1. God Uses Peter
Peter was a fisherman, by trade, and I love that Jesus chose to use Peter’s abilities to get the coin. Jesus certainly could have performed a little Houdini and pulled the coin from a pocket, off the ground, or even behind a child’s ear, but he didn’t. He did not need Peter to obtain the coin, but yet he chose to.
Just like Peter, God does not have to use us to expand His Kingdom and yet, he chooses to.
He does not ask us to do something He has not already given us the ability to do.
I mean technically I wrote my first book when I was in the 7th grade (Hey Mom, where is that?).
2. He Covers Both
Jesus did not just cover the tax for himself, but for Peter as well. Jesus does this time and time again. He did not have to die on the cross and yet he chooses to save us from our sins. He did not have to forgive the man who hung on the cross next to him and yet His grace covered him as well.
God is already covering you.
No matter what fear you have with the calling God has you moving toward He already has it covered. All you have to do is go fish.
Holly Furick said at Reflect Thursday night, “Confidently walk in your calling.” So here goes, Hope (Amidst the Stories I Told Myself): How to Find Hope in Love and Loss is launching Wednesday, November 18. This book is going to change lives. This book is going to provide HOPE to a parent while in the darkest season of their life, walking away from the hospital without their child. The only one who can do this is Christ and I am excited to say that He has given me the ability to write and is covering me with grace.
Now it is your turn. Will you go fish?
