The Missing Peace - Warrior Mom Wisdom - Week of December 30
The Missing Peace
Over a 3 week period, I asked God to “please give me what I’m missing.” I didn’t even know what I was missing; I just had an urgent sense that “I” was missing something…. Have you ever felt that way? Like there is something else you need: knowledge, insight, wisdom…. But you can’t quite put it into words? God used a very dear man, a Christian leader, to speak to me, and I got what I was missing. He asked me one question, “Do YOU know how strong YOU are?” I immediately deferred to God. “Well, God is very strong. That’s why the Warrior Moms say, ‘There’s strong. Then There’s God-strong.’ I answered. “No,” he said as he waved his hand to emphasize that I missed the point. Then, he repeated the question again, but slower this time, “Do YOU know how strong YOU are?” To make a long story short, I thought I was strong. After all, I grew up on Welfare, but did well with sports and school. I joined the military at 18, put myself through college. I’m a wife and a mom. I’m a Bible teacher at my church. On the surface, I seemed like I knew that I was strong, but there was a piece missing.
Through the conversation with this wonderful man of God, I realized that I had always defaulted to God, never trusting in my own abilities at all. Two years earlier, my husband said, “Kristina, you have more faith in God than anyone I know, but you don’t have any faith in yourself.” I thought he was nuts. I couldn’t even wrap my mind around what my husband said because after I assessed who I was and what I’ve done, I confirmed that I was in deed strong. I basically brushed off what my husband and said because I knew I was right. I am kidding. Well, half-kidding. The truth is, my heart just wasn't able to hear what my husband said. But, you see, I was missing peace.
Do you remember sitting on your parent’s foot when you were a kid? When they walked, you went for a ride. Maybe you have done that with your own children. Picture me sitting on God’s foot. Every time God takes a step forward, I do too because I am sitting on his foot, after all. This image perfectly describes my faith journey thus far. God, however, wants me (and you) to stand up and walk into who He has created us to be. He wants to partner with our unique selves to accomplish the plans He has for us on this earth. The reason we are all different, with unique gifts and different personalities, different strengths and weaknesses, and different experiences is because God wants to partner with our uniqueness to impact the world in a unique way that can only be done during this particular time one earth through the uniqueness of us.
For years, I thought that I was being humble by deferring to God; I always wanted to make sure that God always got the credit for anything I did, and that’s good, but I took it to the extreme and disregarded my unique role in partnering with God. God deserves the praise and the credit, but He also wants us to humbly yet boldly be who we are! Do you see the difference? So now, picture me standing next to God, holding His hand reclaiming Kingdom territory that the enemy has temporarily moved into. God wants us all to stop sitting on His foot and boldly, beautifully and uniquely stand up, stand firm, and walk into the plans He has for us to impact the world for His Name’s sake in our own unique way. When we learn this profound truth, we no longer worry about “fitting into the crowd,’ rather, we show up humbly, boldly and beautifully leaving the mark of the Master on very crowd that our old foot-sitting selves would have felt terrified by.
After learning this profound lesson, I realized that what I had been missing was peace. I did not have peace with who I was because I was scared to stand up in my own uniqueness for the Kingdom. Now, I understand that God wants to partner with me, not allow me to pal around like a child on His foot. Immediately, I felt different. The nervousness was gone. The insecurity, the fear of “what if…” was gone. All of a sudden, I knew who I was in Christ! I felt free for the first time in my life to be who God created me to be, not guilt ridden about being confident and simultaneously being worried that I was taking the credit for something God did. Do you see the difference?
It’s important to not be arrogant, and it’s important to not be so confident in self that you leave God out. This kind of behavior is dangerous, and a large fall after such behavior most always ensues. The key difference is that God wants us to be confident with who we are in Christ; it’s the perfect partnership, and it allows us to boldly, confidently, and uniquely walk peacefully into the unknown because He is the all-knowing God.
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..."(Jer 1:5)
“Do not say ‘I am only a child. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.(Jeremiah 1:7-8)
“Do not be terrified by them or I will terrify you before them.”(Jeremiah 1:17)
Praise Him!
The Warrior Mom Ministry was founded by Kristina Seymour, author of The Warrior Mom Handbook – Equipping Women through the Word, a Bible study for moms who desire to live by faith in the midst of their everyday lives. Kristina has learned that moms can't survive on caffeine and animal crackers alone; women in the Word and in community are united and able to stand firm. To learn more about The Warrior Mom Handbook, the Warrior Mom Ministry, and to sign up for daily encouragement, visit Kristina's blog.
