A Confident MomEsimerkki

## God’s Highest Calling After being a Christian for over a decade, why was I so miserable? I was serving more and more—while seeking God less and less. I assumed serving God was the same as seeking Him in my mixed-up understanding. I thought extreme busyness was the Christian norm: the life God wanted for me, the life God expected of me. But I was wrong. I didn’t want to tell anyone I wasn’t up for the task because they all seemed to be handling their crazy-busy lives fine. It was just me who couldn’t keep up. Drained by all the doing, I was numb, exhausted, and depleted. My undoing was of my own doing. My doing and doing and doing, but life wasn’t slowing down, and I wasn’t enjoying anything. “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you. . . .’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper’” (Hebrews 13:5–6). When we get overwhelmed, we can ask for God’s help to know what to let go of and how to order the tasks on our list. The truth is, we can’t be and do it all. We can learn to say no to a lot of requests for our time. We will always disappoint someone, but we won’t be as likely to disappoint those we love most—which includes God and our family. Take time now to read the apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:14-19. Paul is on his knees praying for Christ to dwell within the Christians in Ephesus so that they understand how much God loves them. Not so they can do more, preach more, or achieve more. The highest call, and the desire of Paul’s prayers, is that we grasp the fullness of God’s love for us. Period. Lord, there are days when I am absolutely drained by all of the things I do, and I feel like I’ll never get everything done. Help me remember that living in a constant state of overwhelm is not healthy nor honoring You. Teach me how to leave enough margin in my days for interruptions and unexpected situations. Please give me the courage to say no when I need to so I can say yes to the people and commitments that are most important to You and me this season. Amen.