A verse to share, part 2

 

Here is verse 2 that I wanted to share with you.
 

It came last Sunday. In a weird way, from an Instagram post. It was something I never knew I was craving. It's a verse I've read a million times. Proverbs 31:25.

"She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come."
 

Seriously, I need strength. Strength of heart, of mind, of body, of emotions. Most days I feel like run on fumes.

 

 

"she can laugh at the days to come"...I really wish that was me. But as I have mentioned before, I'm not super confident in my parenting skills. I also worry about whether not the chemicals in my brain are going to resort back to the panic attack symptoms that it learned during the month and half stint of medications flipping out inside of me. I worry more than I trust.
 

My friend, Nickolee, recently wrote about learning to take one day at a time. I shared the verse above with my friends Rachel and Christy. I told them this needed to be a goal in my life, only I didn't know how to get there. One of them responded: It's one day at a time walking with Jesus."
 

Notice the trend? One day at a time. Some days for me it's hour by hour or minute by minute. It's staying dependent of Jesus. Angela Thomas wrote a little side note in her Bible study, Brave. She said, "The brave woman brings her need of discipline to God and ask Him to give what she does not possess."

 

 

If we do not possess the strength, we ask for it. God says He gives us strength in our weaknesses. I have a lot of those. Hence, I need to do a lot of asking.
 

Isaiah 52:1 says to "clothe yourself with strength." To me this implies action. If you are "clothing" yourself, you aren't just sitting there waiting for the "clothes" to fall on you as in an episode of the Jetsons. You are pursuing the "clothes", the strength or whatever they may represent for you. It is asking for strength or wisdom. It is admitting our weakness. It is seeking counsel from a friend who is equally yoked. It is a prayer expecting God to fill in what you lack or even to take over your strength. It's more than just desiring or talking (blogging!) about the idea or a sentiment of the heart.  Clothing yourself with strength, dignity, love, gentleness, etc is a practice.

 

 

It is a practice that I don't do very well. But I am learning that it is crucial for me to be a mommy, a wife, a friend, to be just me.