When you can...

Yesterday I posted about the wonderful grace of God for those times when you feel like

you. just. can't...

(you can read it here if you'd like.)

But as I was spending time reading the Bible this morning, I realized that the times when we believe (mistakenly) that we can do it all are perhaps more dangerous...

When I feel weak and insufficient I am quick to fall on my knees and cry out to God. In those moments there is nothing else that I can do but pray...

Those "I-can't-do-this-one-more-moment" times draw me nearer to my Heavenly Father and he feels as close as my next breath...

The danger comes when life gets better...

When illnesses are healed...

When good times return...

When hospital bills are paid in full...

When life becomes ordinary, I fall into the trap of self-reliance. I forget how desperately I need my savior because there is no imminent danger. When the road ahead is straight and the course seems clear, I forget that I am not enough...I forget that I don't forge my own way in the world...

image courtesy of Ambro freedigitalphotos.net

God wants to be just as close to us during times of plenty as he is during times of desperate need.

What if -when life is coasting along just fine - we were still desperate for His presence?

What if - when we really believe that we CAN do all things -

we didn't forget the second part of the verse...

through Christ who strengthens me?

(Philippians 4:13)

Our goal as wives and mothers should be to live each day in humble reliance on God...

especially on the good days...

when it's so easy to forget.

When we walk through the valleys of life, it is easy to look toward the Father to guide and lead us through those scary places. But when the path is easy and our burden really does feel light, will we remember? Will we still acknowledge our insufficiency? 

It is my prayer that we will.

Linking Up:
Far Above Rubies
Growing Home
Time-Warp Wife
Deep Roots at Home