Bringing Calm into the Chaos of Your HomeSample

Respect Your Limits

Part of why we parents are so stressed out and anxious is that we haven’t learned to embrace our limits. We try to do it all and have our kids do it all. It doesn’t help that we have 24/7 connection to the outside world, to email, to news reports, and to social media. There’s no limit to the stress we are absorbing all day long.

Jesus embraced His limits. Like us, He was limited to a 24-hour day and was contained in a human body while on earth. In Mark 1:35–39, Jesus was enjoying some time alone with the Father when His disciples came looking for Him. From the passage we see that the disciples were frantic and frazzled. They exclaimed, “Everyone is looking for you!” As parents we can relate, right? Often everyone in the family and others outside the family need us at the same time. We feel pulled and pushed in different directions. Yet Jesus was completely unbothered by the disciples’ angst. Instead, He said, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come” (Mark 1:38 NIV). 

What Jesus models here for us is profound. He was differentiated enough to not let the disciples’ angst unravel Him. He set clear boundaries around His purpose and plans.

As parents pulled in a million different directions, we need to learn from Jesus. We need to be differentiated enough to not allow the chaos around us to unravel us. We need to respect our physical, emotional, and spiritual limits. When you model respecting your limits, you model a calmer, more stress-free life for your kids. 

Pause and Reflect: When your child is stressed out and anxious, how do you respond? Are you able to maintain your sense of calm as a parent?

Action Step: The next time you feel pushed and pulled in a million different directions, stop and breathe. Listen for the Holy Spirit to whisper calm to your soul before you respond.

Pray: Lord, thank you that you modeled limits for me. I praise you that you didn’t allow the expectations of others to determine your actions. Help me to follow your example so that I might model to my kids a calmer lifestyle.

Mark 1:38 (NIV): “That is why I have come.”