I think my favorite book in the Bible is James. My kids laugh when we talk about what we have been reading, because 8 of 10 times I have just reread a passage in James! I think I love it because it's SO full, hard to read sometimes because it steps...no STOMPS on your toes, but it is rich. There is so much to learn from that little book way in the back of the Bible.
Anyway, another passage that is dear to me, even though it too, steps on my toes, is Proverbs 301:10-31. It is the passage that lays out what a Godly woman and wife should look like.
Last night, after church, the house was quiet and there was still so much that needed to be accomplished. Tempted to grumble as I was changing out the laundry at 11:00, an amazing thing happened! God brought Proverbs to my thoughts instead. I recalled that Proverbs 31:18b "her candle goeth not out by night." Well, that changed my whole attitude!
You see, while I was standing there folding clothes, I realized that I was making strides in becoming the woman, wife and mother that I so earnestly study about and strive to become. It is a LONG process! We can't just read a passage in the Bible and think that the next day, by some grand miracle, we will become what we have read. BOY, there's a thought! Too bad that doesn't happen!
I have studied and prayed and cried about and prayed and studied Proverbs 31. It is my hearts desire to be this woman. To fear the Lord, admonish my husband and provide a "safe" place for him. To be a prepared mother and raise up Godly children and to show the love of Christ to others around me through kindness and compassion. But it all starts in the heart while I'm folding laundry, late at night in a dark quiet house. Do I grumble, or do I praise the Lord? Do I "count it all joy" as James 1:2 says?
I still have a long way to go. I know I will never be perfect, but perfection is not my goal. To be able to stand before my Lord Jesus and know that I have made every effort to "Walk in the Fullness of God's Calling on My Life" so that he might say, "well done, my good and faithful servant." That, my dear friends, is the desire of my heart, the goal I am reaching for.
What is yours?
I love your emphasis here, Katie on the heart's desire! We will truly follow our hearts. I have found my own heart, like yours...and many times, folding clothes in a dark, quiet night... meditating and finding joy in the moments. You have such a way of encouraging others to pursue the desires of their heart! Keep up the good work!
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