In His Image

During my quiet time this morning, I was browsing through the articles at www.crosswalk.com and found one titled, "The Power of a Good Example." One part of it really struck me,

"Some people may never open the Bible and read John 3:16. They may never look to see what the Scriptures say to them. But they will watch you. They will take note of the way you live, the way you treat your family, the way you do your job, and the way you function as a follower of Jesus Christ. And they will make their evaluation about God accordingly."

So, the question immediately to myself was what kind of example am I setting? Lately, I have been feeling like I am just trying to get through my days working to get stuff accomplished. When I am stressed and extra busy, I tend to let my sinful nature come forth. You know the one - the selfish, impatient, easily angered one. The one that will speak harshly to her children - the ugly one. Lately I have been stressed and busy and she has made her appearance far too often.

So, this quote above really hit me hard. If someone were to peek through my windows into my life, what would they see? Would I paint a picture of a godly life? I am afraid not. First, they would see chaos. I am not a disciplined, organized person by nature and with packing and sorting for moving, my house appears that it has had an explosion of stuff inside. There are piles and boxes everywhere! 1 Corinthians 14:33 says, "For God is NOT a God of disorder, but of PEACE and ORDER." If you peeked through my window right now, "peace" and "order" would definitely NOT be the first words to come to mind! I really intend to be better in this area in the new house. It is bigger and I should have places for everything, but I do realize that my habits still need to be adjusted.

Next, what would you notice about my interaction with my family, especially my children? One thing I have learned about myself is that I have a hermit personality. I require a certain amount of quiet awake time to myself or I find I get sorta irritable. I do come by this naturally as I believe that I have descended from a long line of hermits. This in itself is not bad, but when I have much to do and am feeling stressed, I do not work well with others, especially my children. I just want them all to be somewhere that I am not. Having 4 young children, this really isn't realistic! I am impatient with them and catch myself using the electronic babysitter (i.e. TV) instead of engaging them in conversation and directing them to something productive. (sigh)

So, here I sit, contemplating my short comings, wondering what to do about them. I have come to the conclusion that I do not have the strength or the discipline to be that beautiful example of Christ that I want to be. But, I do know that God does have that strength and discipline. The key is turning to Him CONSTANTLY throughout my day and leaning on Him. He alone can make my life paint a beautiful picture of Him. I rest in the peace of that and commit to allowing Him to use me each and every moment of the day!!!