The Order of Things
All good girls who have grown up in Sunday School know about the order of things. We know we are to put God first, our family second and our career/job next. Anytime we are asked - we know what to say. But is that really the order of our priorities? Is that the order we have these things in our life? I remember being a young mom. The love I had for my children was so overwhelming! (It still is, actually.) But sometimes I would feel so full of love for these three precious gifts God had given me, I would feel like I could just burst. I remember thinking, "Does God really expect me to love Him more than I love these beautiful babies? I mean, really?" I shamefully thought, “I just can't. I can't believe He would even expect that." What I didn't realize then, but I know now is that I was immature in my faith. I had accepted Jesus as my Savior at a young age. I loved Him and desired to please Him, but I had a lot of growing up to do. Then, one day I came to understand in a way I never had before. I realized I could never love my children the way they deserved to be loved or be a great parent until I put God first. It is only through Him that we can hope to become all that our children need us to be.
In life, sometimes we have to learn things the hard way. I feel I have to share something with you so you will understand the next part. It is a truth I hate. I have had two failed marriages. I hate that fact. But in spite of those failures, God's grace has rained down on me. Now, I look back and see the hardest times of my life - the times of great suffering - are now the sweetest times. It is during these times I grew the most in my relationship with Jesus. I learned what it meant to truly trust in Him and depend on Him for breath.
Anyway, back to the order of things...after my first divorce I felt so alone. I started to date someone and he was so kind, so understanding, and made me feel safe and secure. So, guess what I did? I made him my savior. I worshipped him. I lived to please him. He came first. Yes, he did. You see, I stepped out of God's will and did it my way. And for a long time – things were good. But, anytime we step out of God's will, we rob ourselves of God’s best. When that marriage ended I was devastated. It took the breath out of me. My heart shattered. But God is so good. His provision had already been put in place. He had placed me in an incredible business that sustained me and my three teenagers financially. And he had filled my life with incredible friends who loved me through every single day of that difficult time. But there were great consequences of not putting God first. Those consequences not only affected me – but also my three children.
So, you have an opportunity to just learn from my mistakes instead of making your own. You can decide today to put things in the proper order in your life. I started looking for the scripture that commanded God first, family second and career third. I didn’t see that. Maybe that is a great quote by a very wise person. But, I did find this scripture passage, Matthew 22:37-39
“Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
In vacation Bible school as a child, I learned that JOY is putting Jesus first, Others next and Yourself last. J. O. Y. Jesus, Others, You. So, when we love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind then we put Him in His proper place in our life. By doing that we can become the wife we should be, the mom our children need and who He has called us to be in every other area of our life. God is our creator, the ruler of all. God is the great I Am. My friend Chelsey shared recently on Facebook that she never understood why God didn't complete His thought when He said, "I Am". She shared that God finally revealed what that means. Put your name in the blank. It means _____, I am whatever you need. I AM your protector. I AM your strength. I AM your peace. I AM madly in love with you. I AM always here. I AM full of grace - enough to cover your ugliest mistake. _____, I AM enough for you.
Wow! Let’s get things in order. Ready?
Let me know what you think! I love hearing from YOU!