He Gives More Grace: Encouragement for Moms in Any SeasonShembull

Day 2: It’s Not All Up to You

“For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

Whether you’ve been a mom for 40 days or 40 years, I’m sure there have been moments when you question whether you made the right call or you regret the way you handled a situation.

Let me assure you that every mom has been there or will be eventually. How do I know this? Because motherhood is made up of one decision after another. Which diapers do I use? Should I work or stay home with the kids? Should I let them have sleepovers? Do I give them a phone at this age when all their friends have one? The list could go on and on.

Though we may have the best of intentions, we’ll sometimes make a decision that we’ll later wish we hadn’t. And more often, we’ll make a decision and never know whether it was the best one. So we can constantly be looking around and wondering, “Did I make the right choice? Should I have handled that differently? If only I had known better at the time.”

I know all too well that these thoughts can quickly become all-consuming and paralyzing for a parent. When I think back to my years as a first-time mom, a wave of sadness sometimes washes over me. I wish I had known the challenges my child was dealing with at the time. I would have responded differently to so many situations had I understood the limitations he had from his unseen illness. If only I had known then what I know now, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten as bad as they did.

But the Lord has met me in this place of insecurity with the truth that this guilt-ridden thought process is rooted in the assumption that I should be as all-knowing as God is. But the truth is that we can only see what’s right in front of us. God doesn’t ask us to foresee the outcome of every decision, and the outcomes of our children’s lives are not solely dependent on each of those decisions.

The point is this: God doesn’t give us eyes to see the future; he simply gives us the moment at hand and asks us to depend on his guidance, wisdom, and grace, one step at a time.

GRACE IN A LINE

My children’s salvation isn’t up to me; it’s up to God. I may not get every decision right, but God’s grace is greater than both my successes and failures as a mom.