HOLY PURPOSE

a devotional for mothers

“Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.

Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.”

Proverbs 4:25-26

The other morning, as I was praying over my day, the list of all the things that I “should” do began filling my mind. A beautiful prayer of surrender was taken captive by distraction from my holy purpose. As all of the tasks began forming a checklist that clouded my mind in prayer, my heart paused in the power of the Holy Spirit, to ask “what is my holy purpose for today?”

And as I sat there in the quiet, I heard his still, small voice whisper, “come to me.”

In all that motherhood brings, the enemy can tempt our minds to find our worth and purpose in all the things we should and all the ways we could check off our lists. And when those things are good and beautiful desires to serve the hearts in our homes, we can lose sight of our holy purpose within it all. Our holy purpose is simply to know God and make him known. But, it’s within the details of “how” we do this that we can easily find our hearts distracted by all that we “could” do and all the ways we “should” live out our holy purpose, when he has set us free to simply respond to his love as our holy purpose.

As we seek our holy purpose, God is calling our hearts to look to him. In a world where every other mama’s callings are on display, whether it’s in the way that she is raising her children, how she creates a beautiful rhythm of discipleship in her home or in how she is living out her purpose in motherhood, the enemy tempts our hearts to find our purpose in looking to the ways of the world around us. And even when those things are good and glorify the Lord, God is calling us to look to him as we come to know him and make him known in the path that he has called us to in motherhood.

“Look” (Strong’s #5027 – nabat) means to seek, behold, consider, observe, pay attention to and depend on.

When the Bible commands our hearts to “let our eyes look directly forward,” God is calling the eyes of our hearts to him. When we look to him and set our minds on the righteous path that he is leading in our life, the promise is that “all our ways will be sure.”

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³ And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14:22-33

In the beautiful scripture of Jesus calling Peter to walk on water, he commands Peter to “come.” But when Peter begins to look at the wind and waves around him, taking his eyes off of Jesus, fear sets in and he begins to sink. But, when Peter looked to Jesus, his way was sure.

This is a beautiful picture of the way we are called to look to God in motherhood. When the enemy tempts us to look away from the path that God has called us to, whether we fall into the trap of comparison or long for a different path than the one at our feet, the result is that feeling of sinking and striving because we are not depending on God. But, when we look to God, despite all the wind and waves that come our way in motherhood, our way will be sure because we are dependent on him. In looking to God, we come to know his heart, and the overflow of our hearts is that the beautiful and righteous path he has called us to walk is how we will make him known to the world around us. When we look to God, he will lead us in the holy purpose he has for our lives.

In the depths of his mercy and unending grace, God has declared that we are “set free.”

When we listen to that still, small voice that says, “come to me,” we can release all the details of “how” to live out our purpose, as he fills out hearts with his love. It’s out of knowing him that we make him known. As we press into him and come to know his love, the overflow of our hearts is to make him known to the world around us, and this is our holy purpose. May we look to him, delight in his ways, ask in prayer, trust in his heart and surrender to his love as he invites us to live set free into our holy purpose.