In the beginning of 2018 I wrote a New Year’s Resolution, that my son would be fully potty trained. At the time when I wrote the resolution, I had no idea how that was going to happen. I was not very confident in my own skills to bring that resolution into fruition, but I knew that it was something that HAD to get done. If my son was not potty trained by august of 2018 then he would essentially be held back from the next age appropriate class and I would be deemed a “failure” as his mom. With stakes this high, I could not risk it.
Although, the pressure was on, there was a looming fear of HOW it would get done. I prayed about it and put it in my worry box. A few weeks in, his teacher came up to me and asked me how potty training was going. With a shrug full of uncertainty and shame, I said it’s going okay.
Girl….lying! Potty training was going however my son wanted it to go. I said pee in the pot, he said “no mommy, diaper”.
The teacher looked at me and said, it’s okay, we are working with him as well. I was shocked. “Really”! I exclaimed with hope in my eyes. She said, yes, we send him to the potty with all the other children. "Don’t worry mama we will work together on this". And...thank you God, 9 months later he was completely potty trained minus little accidents every now and again, and we are still going strong.
I say all this to say that there is very little that I can do in my own strength, in all things that I do, God will intercede and provide a path and hope toward great success...IF I LET HIM. I realize that no matter how hard I try to do anything, if I do not consult God, wait for him to provide me with what I need, and receive his gift of peace, I am in a world of trouble.
When I look back over my life, anything that I have ever pursued using only my ambitious and resilient nature worked for a little while, or didn’t work at all. Almost my whole life every decision I’ve made or dream that I have pursued was in the name of my own ambition and resilience. Don’t get me wrong, my ambition runs deep, and so does my resilience. But, those things without God is like having Kool-Aid with no sugar.
We can be all the adjectives in the world, but without God they won't get us to the finish line. God adds the sugar and spice and everything nice. He brings peace where there is war and harmony where there is discord on our plans and goals. The bible says that we can do all things….through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13) . That second part is the part that we must meditate on and figure out what that means for our own journeys with God.
What does it mean for you to be ambitious…through Christ who strengthens you?
What does it mean for you to rest….in God’s gift of peace and to know that He is God?
I think the answer to one or both of those questions are somewhere in the things that we struggle with the most. Remember, God’s Yolk is easy and his burden is light. So whatever goal or plan you have that has you questioning your sanity or disrupting your peace, put it away for a little while and trust that God is going to see it through. He’s going to provide you with a way out of no way.
We can't just be confident, we must be “God-fident” !
