This is the part no one told us about before we became parents. The whole “believing without seeing” was never mentioned.
No one warned me! No one said, “Welcome to motherhood! Your faith will be stretched beyond your imagination starting the second you conceive and then it will be doubled the moment you hold this precious little one. Oh and it will triple once they become teens.
No instead they all just looked at you and smiled and sweetly said, “I’ll be praying for you as you adjust to mothering.”
What I thought they meant by “adjust” was like she’ll keep me up all night or that I won’t have time to read or take long baths anymore.
Oh no, it’s much more intense!
No one warned me that “adjusting” would be like that time Jesus told the disciples in Luke 8:22 “Let’s go to the other side of the lake.”
Do you remember what was on the other side of the lake?
A freakin storm!
I guess it’s a good thing no one warned me of the latter meaning of “adjusting” because I may have chickened out.
So Jesus sent his disciples over to the other side of the lake knowing full well they would at some point encounter a storm.
Sweet mamas, Jesus is constantly asking us as parents to go over to “the other side of the lake” where we have no idea what’s going to hit. Where we have to believe without seeing.
But look carefully what he says in this verse, “Let us”. He’s not sending you alone.
He says “us”. You’re not alone in this parenting thing!
In the midst of that storm you’ll also be asked to do the unimaginable and trust that God has this. You may sound like the disciples yelling, “Master, Master we’re going to drown!” because in that moment that’s exactly how you feel no matter how small it may seem to everyone else.
Mothering is All About Believing Without Seeing
First you thought you were pregnant only to discover it was a false alarm. Then she’s not crawling when she’s “supposed to be” so you’re a freakin’ out. He can’t figure out potty training and you wonder if you’ll be sending him to college with adult diapers. Later it’s the bully at school or the “friends” she’s hanging out with.
“Blessed are those who believe without seeing.” (Jn 20:29)
You have to “believe without seeing” every single morning you watch your babies walk out the door into the hands of a world that doesn’t see their awesomeness like you do.
A world who doesn’t love them or have their best interest in mind.
That’s when you’ll have to fill your mind with truth and remember He said, “Let US go”. They are not alone. You are not alone.
God you got this!
I believe, help my unbelief.
They Are Watching
We can take all kinds of classes on potty training, parenting and even baby sleeping rhythms but the class on “Mothering 101: Believing Without Seeing” is something we have to live out to learn.
It’s lived out every day of your life as a mother.
And guess who’s watching? Yes, your little ones. We have the beautiful privilege to impact the faith of our children with how we can handle the storms.
So we move forward on this journey continuously practicing the act of intercepting the worry-ridden thoughts about our child’s future with “God you got this!” or “I believe help my unbelief.”
But sometimes the hard truth is we follow the path of lies and with a repentant heart we say, “Forgive me because I held on to my feelings instead of my faith.”
Let’s show them what it means to live out what we believe. To believe without seeing!
Blessed are the moms who believe God’s got this, without seeing!
What’s going on in your life right now that you need to hand over to God and” believe without seeing”–“God you got this!?