No Excuses

by Olivia Brinker

In almost every area of my life, I make excuses for not going the extra mile to do what is right and good. I’ve always been a chronically lazy/selfish person. I assume that comes from being the baby of the family, but there I go making excuses for my actions again. The past few months, I have felt the Lord really tugging at me to notice this cycle in my life, especially as a mother.

My relationship with the Lord has been nothing short of a roller coaster, and acting out my faith and being a light for Him has been put in the corner with dried up apples and dirty diapers. My kids have rapidly become a wall in between my heart and my ambition to live like Christ. I find myself limiting myself to only leading worship on Sunday morning and the rest of the week is strictly focused on raising my 3 small children and trying to take the responsibility of leading my family from my husband. There is no doubt, I have a ton of things stacked against me right now and maybe you feel the same way, but God never said His way was easy. Whether it be finding time to study His word or witnessing to the world around me, my family shouldn’t be getting in the way of that.

Matthew 10:37-39 says this:

“The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it.”

I hear from a lot of people that I’m doing okay; that this season of life is meant to be spent raising my kids and that God knows my heart and understands. These are true statements and my role as a mother is definitely a part of my ministry for the Lord, but if my day to day is causing me to say ‘no’ to a call from God, then my priorities are wrong.

In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, I am called to much more than the daily responsibilities of a wife and mother. The word of the Lord should consume every aspect of my life.

“These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

I am to be teaching my children to live for Christ. If I’m putting them first, how much are they really learning? They should see me praising. They should see me giving. They should see me evangelizing. They should see me dying to myself in order to live for Christ! I long for my children to see the good that comes from living like that. Right now, they are along for the ride on my journey as a believer. I need to make sure I take the right route, and stop making excuses.

“Her sons rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her.”
Proverbs 31:28