Nothing in this life comes easy. Nor does motherhood. It’s the greatest career God has given to women. It’s fulfilling. It’s filled with joys too big for the heart. It’s our DNA. It’s what we are born for.
But it’s HARD WORK! It’s demanding. It never lets up, day or night. It’s also filled with heartaches and crying tears of intercession for our children. But isn’t that true with any great work? No great work just happens. No great work is without challenges, heartaches, disappointments, and setbacks.
Even the Bible reminds us of this truth. When writing to the Thessalonian Christians Paul said to them: “Remembering without ceasing your WORK OF FAITH, and LABOR OF LOVE, and PATIENCE OF HOPE in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father” (1 Thessalonians 1:3).
God spells it out to us here. Faith is proved by our works. Love is proved by our hard work. And hope is proved by our patience endurance. It’s not airy-fairy stuff!
I love the J. B. Phillips’ translation: “We never forget that your faith has meant solid achievement, your love has meant hard work, and the hope that you have in our Lord Jesus Christ means sheer dogged endurance in the life that you live before God, the Father of us all.”
That’s it, lovely ladies. Love means hard work. Love is not only a feeling. It is action. Because we love our husbands, we work hard to serve them, bless them, and please them. Because we love our children, we don’t complain that we no longer live to ourselves, but delight to give our lives to mothering. Because we love our homes, we rejoice in efficiently maintaining them. We don’t let it go to chaos. It takes diligence and hard work, but this proves our love.
Be encouraged today. You prove your love by hard work. Forget all the grumbling and groaning. Rejoice in it. Work is wonderful. God gave it as a principle before the fall. It is a God-given blessing. Hard work never kills anyone. When you embrace it with joy because your heart is filled with love, you’ll enjoy every minute of it. And you’ll sleep well at night because your body will be ready to sleep.
How wonderful. And don’t you love the end of that Scripture? “In the sight of God and our Father.” We do everything in our home and all our motherhood in the sight of our Father God. He is watching, caring for us, and hovering over us in our homes.
Love to you from Nancy Campbell