Which "P" Will It Be?

There are two little ‘P’s running around in our brains. One is called Peace and the other Performance! Only one of these ‘P’s’ can survive!  They are arch enemies and cannot live with each other! So if you are ready, let’s start the fight…

One of the ‘P’s’ must go!

Which one is it going to be?

Oh, Oh, Oh – it’s a bigger fight than I realize!

Which one will die?

Ppppppppeeeeerformance!

Okay, Performance – out you go!

Cheers! Encore!

God wants performance to die today! And tomorrow!  The performance of trying to be Sally the Supermom, of dressing, acting or mothering like anybody else! God wants us to look to Him and perform for His eyes only! Many of us are so busy performing for the voices around us that we miss His voice, the one voice that tells us how we should perform! If your mothering has become a bit smoggy, heavy and trashed – wait! His voice is calling!

But to be honest, it can be hard to give performance the boot. “What if I slam the door on all the voices telling me how to measure up and then God doesn’t speak – or worse, He tells me to act differently than all my friends?”  Let’s face it mothers - to mother for the Lord is not ‘safe’, if your definition of safe is your own secure, insulated world. When you depend on God for your children, He will take you out of your comfort zone for you cannot predict God!  He will change your motherhood from boring to exciting!  The more we listen to His voice, the more we will hear maternal truths from the heart of God just for us!

When we don’t trust God, we end up living under the smog of someone else’s agenda. We get a second-hand viewpoint of what God wants for our family and children. Is the word of the Lord coming to you firsthand or secondhand for your child’s life, schooling, etc. As mothers we need to have the firsthand building plan! It’s okay to get advice, but we need to take that advice to the Lord and say, “Is this for me?”

We don’t have time for the second rate building plan. It’s too boring. All we do is what they do and wear what they wear. We live another person’s idea!  Actually, it's more than boring – it’s hard work to keep up. But we do it despite our frayed nerves, trying to prove to the world we are measuring up. Stop it now! We don’t have to prove anything!  I think God wants to shake us and say, “Stop trying, relax,  live a little! He wants us to stop trying to be the perfect mother who has all her ducks in a row, but the mother who knows how to relax in the peace of God and hear His heartbeat for her family!

“But God, when I dress like the ladies at our church, I know I’m doing well by measuring myself against them!

God says, “I gave you your personality, let me adorn you.”

“Well, what about what they are doing God? It’s really great and they’re accomplishing great things for You and for life!”

“Not everything is for you.”

“But I want to be like them.”

“I want you to be like Me. Learn of Me for I am meek and lowly and you will find rest for your soul.”

“That’s good, my soul sure needs a rest. Give me some steps.”

“I don’t do steps. I come as you enter my presence.”

“What!  No steps Lord? Nothing to go on, no one telling me what to do, but you – that’s not safe. What’s say you don’t turn up?”

“I have promised that I will never leave you or forsake you. I have watched you try so hard and come under the yoke of what others are doing. My voice will be especially for you. I will speak to you about your children. I know the answers for them more than any “how-to” book you will ever read. I created them and I will speak to you about all manner of things. It will be exhilarating. You will find joy and freedom in your mothering like you have never known before.”

Performance makes us self aware. Do not care what anyone else thinks. The Marys did not care!

Mary, Lazarus’s sister didn’t care about performance as she sat listening to Jesus, All she wanted to hear was His voice and it was counted to her as the greater place.

Mary Magdalene was surely not about performance, when in front of all the Pharisees and disciples she wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair. She didn’t care what they thought. She only cared what Jesus thought, and her story will forever be told!

Mary, the mother of Jesus was definitely not concerned about performance when she hearkened to the words of the angel. She understood that she would look like a bad girl and could even be killed, but she responded, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”

The “Marys” got it down! God is still looking out for the hearts of Mary. He is crying out, “Where are the Marys? Where are the ones who will forget about what other thinks? Where are those who will hear my voice from Heaven, and say, ‘Take my life and mothering and sculpt it the way you want. Be it unto me, the handmaid of the Lord.’”

Your friend, Vangi!

EVANGELINE JOHNSON

Primm Springs, Tennessee, USA

Howard and Evangeline are blessed with 7 children – Zadok (11), Sharar (10), Rashida (8), Crusoe (6), Jireh (4), Arrow (3) and Tiveria (1).