The following is an excerpt from Missional Motherhood: The Bible Study, a 6-session Bible study by Gloria Furman that looks to Scripture for evidence of God’s mission for motherhood and His greater purpose for each and every woman. Learn more at lifeway.com/missionalmotherhood.
In our area of the world, the weather is fairly predictable for the vast majority of the year. I rarely (if ever) open the weather app on my phone. We just know it’s going to be hot and dusty. The only question is how hot. Every once in a while, a northwest shamal or a southern wind from the Saudi Arabian “Empty Quarter” will blow across the country, kicking up a sandstorm. During these sandstorms we have to make sure the windows are closed; otherwise everything will get covered in a gritty layer of sand. The clouds of sand can even cover up the sun. This sun-covering effect is disorienting (and even a bit creepy).
Losing sight of God’s glory is similar to the sandstorms. As we go about our everyday lives—raising our children, discipling young women, working, and serving others—we tend to assume our priorities will remain intact. But assuming leads to forgetting. As the sandstorm of our everyday lives swirls about us, we forget the orienting, illuminating purpose for our lives: to glorify God. We can become disoriented, losing sight of what’s most important. After all, the glory of God is what we live for.
The following verses tell us how glorifying God should be at the center of all we do. Read these verses, and then consider how you might paraphrase them in your own words: Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Peter 4:11.
It is evident from these verses, and in the rest of Scripture, that we should glorify God in all we do. In our everyday, in our mothering and nurturing, we should seek to glorify Him.
By virtue of our salvation in Christ and identification with Him in His death and resurrection, every single Christian ought to have a missionary heartbeat. Homemakers, students, widows, children, and businesswomen—all of us are given the exciting privilege of ascribing glory to God among the nations wherever God has placed us. The gospel message and our privilege of sharing it are worth singing about! God has a global plan for His glory, and it is our joy to participate in giving Him the glory He is due with our hearts, deeds, eating/drinking, speaking, serving, and whatever we do.
That “whatever we do” is different for all of us. My mind is just swimming with all of the various ways the women I know are bringing glory to God! Amy* feels like she is 38,000 weeks pregnant, and she is praising God for persevering her body. Lena* is struggling with her family’s transition to a new country, and she is telling the Lord (and her daughters) how she needs God’s help every hour. Hyejin* is shepherding her son through difficulties in his school, and telling him to ask God for wisdom. Kalla* works hard from sunup to sundown, and she talks with the people she sits next to on the bus and her coworkers about her Savior.
What are some of the ways that you glorify God through your ministry to the individuals in your life?
* Names have been changed.
Excerpted from Missional Motherhood: The Bible Study © 2016 Lifeway Christian Resources®. Used by permission.
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