To Sow With Tears and Reap With Joy!
Psalm 126: 2-6
Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes,[c] Lord,
like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.
What makes you cry? Lack of sleep, physical pain, being yelled at, cleaning up blueberries off your freshly mopped floor, noise, arguing, not fitting into your clothes, repetitiveness of your days...didn't I just describe motherhood?
This Psalm has been rolling around in my head all week and being sung through the dishes and egg cooking and bath giving and lunch making. There are a variety of artists that have recorded it as a song...
Although we are weeping,
Lord help us keep sowing,
The seeds of your kingdom
For the day you will reap them.
Your sheaves we will carry
Lord, please do not tarry,
all those who sow weeping will go out with songs of joy"
So many days I feel weepy, I am not defeated, I am not distraught or depressed but the constant disciplining of kids and consistent housework of taking care of a family is exhausting. I am often a broken record in teaching them and training them and it so often leaves me questioning, "Do they hear me? Do they understand? Is this worth it?"
Are in a season of motherhood that feels purposeless? Are you struggling to keep going, to be joyful in the routine? My efforts often feel futile because children learn and grow and change s-l-o-w-l-y. I say the words "keep your hands to yourself" one-hundred times a day and am shocked when they finally do keep their hands off people and things three years later. Kids are concrete learners, they need to see consequences and evidence and experience the problem. They are not going to just believe my words.
But, we are adults and we have been given words that we can trust. We need to find hope in those words of Scripture that cause a stirring in our hearts. That make us feel alive, that bring us hope and that are a sweet salve to the wounds we have experienced.
For me, this Psalm, the songs about this Psalm are speaking truth and hope and light into the corners of motherhood where I am weeping and I don't see growth in my children. My view is so short sighted. I want change to occur in behavior and attitude within weeks and months. But, it takes a two and three-year-old most of those two years to work through how to communicate and experience feelings and learn how to live in a family where they are no longer treated like a baby. It is again s-l-o-w and I am not patient and gracious.
We need to see our children as fertile ground that we are planting seeds in. Seeds of love, patience, hope, trust, respect, kindness, gentleness and all God tells us is to plant them. He doesn't not tell us to force them to grow, to force them to flower and flourish. How easily we see our fault and error when our children don't reflect what we are teaching. But, the diligence in teaching causes us to rely on God, it allows the seeds already planted in us to grow so that we can "keep sowing the seeds of [His] kingdom" because He will reap them!!! We carry these children, we love them and speak truth to them, train them, discipline them, speak love again...over and over.
The hope is not in our children's success. The joy is not in the number of chairs around our dinner table. The laughter is not in the fun we had playing outside together. The hope, joy and laughter is because in the process of raising children we rejoice that we are loved despite our failings, we grow in trust and understanding of how God has taken care of us, we hear kindness and gentleness come out of our mouths more through the years. We rejoice because just like our children there were seeds planted in us that He is reaping and we see long term purpose to these mundane tasks of motherhood. We see that the service in what we are called to do as mothers right now will grow into beauty in the years to come.
Take heart mothers, there will be songs of joy if we walk in diligence with confident footsteps and gentle mouths where He is calling us today. There is hope for the days we are weeping because we have a God who created our children and promises to be with us!
I remember those early days of discipling my children - yes, I said discipling, not disciplining - 2 different things;) I wondered if my efforts were going to be fruitless. It was so hard - it sure would be easier to just let it all slide. But I didn't. My oldest will be 17 in a couple of months, my youngest will be 12 next month. I can honestly say that all of that hard work in the early years has 'paid off'. I am harvesting the fruit of discipling my children. I am still discipling them, but they are also more responsible for their own discipleship (and even discipling each other). They have grown in wisdom (I expected them to seek Godly wisdom at a very young age and it now a 'natural' thing for them to do). I taught them to run to Jesus all the time - when they are hurt, when they are angry, when they are joyful...all the time. I walked them through dealing with sin, choosing life, healing from hurt, loss, and grief. I pointed them back to Jesus. The early years of motherhood may seem long and hard, but the fruit is worth every tear, every drop of sweat. Thanks for sharing on Grace and Truth.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the encouragement. So amazing how God worked in your kids hearts and you are able to see that fruit!
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