Proverbs 14-15; Romans 14

I’d had the book on motherhood on a shelf for years, unread. A one-word focus on community, a look at my first community–my family– and the steady awareness of the fleeting years of my kids’ childhood became a perfect catalyst to read it.

Chapter 3–an undivided heart.

  A wise woman builds her home,
    but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. Proverbs 14:1, NLT

I made a list of words, the difference between the wise woman and the foolish one. 

To build, the words: intentional, nurturing, gentle, joyful, wholehearted, obedient, prayerful, unhurried, patient, God-focused, available, attentive.

To tear down, the words: careless, disorganized, abrasive, selfish, hurried, divided, worldly, checked out, worried. 

And the difference between the two? The heart. 

I considered my own. A season of competing priorities, stress and preoccupation, the dailies of running a household, a growing overwhelm. Were these the things that were dividing my heart? Certainly, they all needed attention–workload, problems, obligations. But were these things becoming bigger than my God?

I needed new perspective, because the one I had left me hurried, worried, irritable and exhausted. It was souring my attitude. I was slowly dismantling my home with my own hands. And the crazy thing? I was hardly aware of it.

With the same demands, one woman can build upon them and another will use them to tear apart her life. Who did I want to be? What would my example sow into generations? What did my perspective say not only of my heart but of my God?

The stresses and demands, the pull of priorities, the problems–they didn’t go away because of chapter 3. But my perspective changed because of God’s word.

Courtney (66books365)

(Chapter 3 reference to The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. No compensation for mentioning this book.)

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Gen. 47; Lk. 1:1-38; Job 13; I Cor. 1

Belief and unbelief.

Joseph trusted in God. His brothers trusted in their own plans (their plot to be rid of a little brother–good thing for them that God had other plans!).

Job was grappling with faith in the midst of an unimaginable hardship. His friends were at work to find his human flaws to justify punishment.

Zechariah asked a question of the messenger–Mary did too!–but what was at work on a heart level differentiated them. One, who was perhaps doubtful. The other, seeking.

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” Luke 1:1:38 NLT.

Paul talks about God using the least expected to confound the wise–and it’s splayed across chapters: a brother sold into slavery who becomes a leader … a wealthy man who loses everything in moments … a virgin girl and a barren, old woman to both conceive children who would change everything … and even Paul, hater turned lover of Christ.

²⁶ Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. ²⁷ Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 NLT.

Overall, a message of being chosen, and a reminder that nothing is impossible with God.

Courtney (66books365)