Overcoming Overwhelm: God's Comfort for Working Mothers - Find Peace and Purpose in the Dance of Work and MotherhoodSample

Day Five: A Renewed Purpose

The moment each of my children were born and the midwives placed them on me, something in me sparked a newfound purpose I didn’t previously have. The knowing I have that I was chosen to be these children’s mother is something I’m not sure I’ll ever quite get my head around and yet something I feel so deeply.

I also personally feel a deep sense of calling around the work I do in supporting Christian leaders in their work-life wellbeing. It stirs up both peace and purpose within me when I’m writing, speaking or creating content which I know is going to reach them.

I don’t doubt that both your role as a parent alongside your work-based productivity are things which stir up purpose in you. And yet, when you’re at the end of yourself - weary from the wanting, the waiting, the working, and sometimes even the wailing, you find yourself where Elijah was when he said he’d had enough.

The good news is, just like we’re told in Isaiah 40:28-31, the Lord is the renewer of our strength. Not only does he strengthen Elijah, he gives him renewed purpose too, as we read about in 1 Kings 19:15-18. He was now called to go back and appoint a new king, he was also to anoint Elisha, who would later become his successor, but for the moment worked as Elijah’s servant.

God was reminding Elijah that he wasn’t done with him yet. What’s more is that he didn’t just remind him of this and send him on his way to guess how that might all pan out. Instead, he equipped him with both a plan and a person (along with the reminder that there were 7,000 more where that came from) to help him fulfil it - again reminding him that this apparent thought he had that he was on his own simply wasn’t true.

You’re not on your own either. As you grapple with both graphs and grizzling sometimes simultaneously, there are many more in exactly the same place you are. Look to God to renew your sense of purpose and passion in the midst of the mundane and pray that he’ll open your eyes to those around you who would be delighted to support you in your mission and ministry of making God the centre of both your parenting and your productivity.

Keep going, keep growing.

Give yourself some time to reflect on the following: