Moms what are you filled with? Is it worry, positive mantras, joy, self-help books….?
This morning as I read over this verse found in Romans I had a lovely visual of my oldest son when he was a toddler. He used to wake up and make his way over to our room, climb up to our bed and snuggle in my arms. My other two sons did some thing similar their favorite spot was laying their head on my chest.
This calming ritual was a necessity in order for them to have a good start to their day. No words were needed to be exchanged. All we could hear were our hearts beating and that was enough to remind them that they were loved, known, valued and safe.
Isn’t that a beautiful picture of our place in our Heavenly Father’s arms?
The God of hope is waiting for us to leave our concerns, disappointments, hurts, and worry at His feet and find rest in Him. He patiently waits for us to climb into His arms or sit at His feet and be reminded of who He is and who we are because of Him.
Moms Filled with Truth
So let’s dive into today’s passage using the simple RAAP method to find nuggets of truth.
Read. Spend some time reading Romans 15:13. Read all of chapter 15 to get a better feel for the context of this verse. You may even want to read it in another version.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
So I’m not going to beat around the bush with you. My question to you is,
“Moms what are you filled with?” Is it worry, love, bitterness, hope, disappointment, hurt or confusion…? Is it lots of feelings that are taking you away from His truth? Is it lots of positive mantras like “You’re enough! You’re amazing!” Is it another spiritual book?
Let this verse remind us of truth and let it change how we act, speak, love and live our life today.
In His arms,
at His feet,
in His word is where we get filled–truly filled.
Moms it’s easy to pretend we have it all together. Oh how I know this to be true. But just let your guard down for a minute at the feet of Jesus, climb into His arms.
Tell Him what is robbing your joy. Tell Him what is stealing your peace.”
I assure you that there’s no need to fake it till you make it in His presence. He doesn’t need you to pretend that you’re okay.
I only know who I really am when the Bible becomes my lens for self-reflection, and when the blood of Christ so powerfully pumps my heart whole…” Rosaria Butterfield
Ask. What is God telling me in Romans 15:13? Who? When? Where? How? Why? What can we learn about God character, actions or attributes?
What does the God of hope fill you with? The verse says, “fill you with all joy and peace… so that you may overflow with hope.”
I remember one night, when I couldn’t sleep I was tossing and turning replaying my horrible day in my head over and over again. All I wished for at that moment was peace in my heart.
I’ve come to realize that something fatal or tragic doesn’t have to happen in order for my joy and peace to disappear. It can be a myriad of “little” things keeping us awake at night. All of those “little” things matter to Him so talk to Him about it. Remember joy and peace come from Him.
Moms our Heavenly Father fills us up with exactly what our soul is longing for–joy and peace.
Guess what? This joy and peace is nothing like what you get from having a good day, caring friend or loving spouse. He says in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
How are you filled? As you trust in Him. Oh how easy it was to type those 5 letters–TRUST.
So often I hear moms say these phrases, “Just trust in Him. I need more faith. My faith is weak. Often we talk about “getting faith” as if it’s ordered from a warehouse, then a package arrives from heaven delivered to our front door. BAM! We open it and we are filled with faith.
If we look to His word we see that faith is not this magical pixie dust that someone blows onto our weary hearts, after we ask for it in prayer. But it comes from hearing the Word (Romans 10:17). Our faith grows from being in His word. Just before verse 13 we see the apostle Paul quote lots of different verses from scripture reminding the Romans of God’s truth.
There is a crucial connection between the word of God and faith and between the word of God and our hope.
Just before verse 13 we see in 15:4, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through the endurance taught in the scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might hope.” The scriptures give us hope.
Who fills you? The last part of this verse brings me so much hope because it confirms that this faith, this hope that I desperately long for and need in my life does not depend on me but it’s the work of the Holy Spirit awakening our faith through scripture.
They are not our experience: God, Word, and Spirit exist whether we do our not. They do not depend on us. We depend on them. They are not shaped by us. We are shaped by them.” ~John Piper
The character of God I see in this verse appears right from the start–The God of hope! He is the creator, author and giver of hope. He is a caring God who knows that our flesh and hearts will fail so He so graciously gives us the Holy Spirit to awaken His word in us and stir that faith with in us that lies dormant and covered by lies.
Apply. What is He inviting you to through these verses? Moms what are you filled with? Is it joy and peace? If not, what is robbing your joy? Stealing your peace? How does this passage encourage or challenge you to climb into His arms and leave your worries, concerns, pain and heart there? What hope can you draw from this passage?
Pray. Pray what you’ve learned and pray scripture back to Him as you intercede for your children, yourself and your family.
Heavenly Father, I come to you today acknowledging and praising you because you are the Hope giver! You are the only one who can truly fill me up. Help me come to you first before I go to social media, my good friend, my spouse, my counselor…
Awaken your truth in my soul today, fill me with your joy and peace as I trust in your promises.
You are in control of everything. No matter what may come today you are sovereign. Help me climb into your arms fully trusting your goodness. Not as I perceive your goodness to be but for who you really are the good Father, everlasting and just God, who does not withhold anything good from your children.
Remind my amnesia stricken heart that you are with me–Emmanuel, God with us. I am not alone. I do not walk this journey of motherhood alone even when it feels so lonely and the day seems to be closing in on me–I am not alone. Mighty God, precious Savior, My Abba, not only do you provide for my every day needs but you give us your Holy Spirit to help awaken my weary and worried filled mother heart. Awaken me! Awaken my heart to the blessings found in your Truth. Thank you! In your name I pray. Amen.
Go!
Like a toddler looking for solace in her daddy’s arms and reassurance from his voice, go and run into His arms! The giver of hope the joy filler. Ask Him to help you learn the art of climbing into His arms with your concerns, disappointments and heart’s desires and be filled with His joy, peace and hope!
