You see the Instagram posts highlighting her coffee and Bible. On Facebook, she shares about the newest devotional book she’ is reading. But, you’re just sitting there wondering, “How does an exhausted mom do devotions?”
12:24 am
She was yelling in the hallway, “Lay down! Lay down!”
Yes, darling 2-year-old. . . Why don’t you do what you’re saying?
I get up. Put her back in bed. (Transitions from the crib to a toddler bed are hard!) Laying on her hardwood floor, I pull my son’s abandoned crib blanket over my curled up body.
A few minutes later I wake up. . . must have dozed off.
Peeking. . . Yes! She’s asleep. I crawl gratefully back into my own bed.
. . . .
“Lay down! Lay down!”
5:15 am. . . Again. . .
Only, She used to wake up at 5:30. She’s getting up earlier. *groan*
I miss my baby that had to be woken at 7:00 am for breakfast.
Now, her brother is awake too, and flopping around noisily in his bed (why is it so creaky?). I know no one is getting any more sleep, but they are also not allowed up before their special clock turns green at 6:00 am.
Brother knows the rule and stays in bed.
I lay down on their floor again, knowing the only chance of her staying in bed is my presence.
At 5:40 my shoulders hurt too much to continue laying on the hard floor, and I ask my husband to sit in with them. Maybe, I can get a few minutes of peace before the day begins.
. . . .
6:00 am.
Everyone is up, time to start the day.
I stand making breakfast and confessing my bad attitude and grumpiness. Boy, I need Jesus today.
I doubt that I’ll have any brainpower or energy for personal devotions when that time comes around, especially after managing everyone’s emotional melt-downs for half the morning.
But I need Jesus… I know He’s with me every moment of the day, but quiet time with Him feeds my soul in a different way.
My natural temptation is to push through and tackle my usual devotional routine. . . yet, the Spirit gently reminds me, “grace.”
What does grace for a mom too exhausted for her devotions look like?
Grace does not mean...
We allow exhausted neglect of our time with Jesus to become the norm. What we sow we will also reap. If we want a beautiful fellowship with Jesus, we must spend time with Jesus, even when it feels almost pointless.
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:7-9, ESV)
But, grace also does not mean we should push ourselves outside our limits so that we “achieve” the standard of “good” Christian.
Christ has already achieved on our behalf. When God looks at us He sees Jesus’ success.
This is why the author of Hebrews reminds us to enter God’s rest (Hebrews 4:1-14). We cannot bring about our own sanctification and relationship of God by our own efforts (Galatians 3:3).
Jesus' gentle grace does mean...
We rest in Jesus’ mercy, pity, compassion, and sympathy towards us in our exhaustion (Isaiah 40:11). You do not have to earn His favor by your diligence or depth of Bible study! He knows and understands where you are at.
His grace means we can crawl into His lap, barely functional and give a weak and weary heart to Him. Our devotions may not look like our “ideal.” That is ok!
Dear one, it’s ok to be gentle with yourself and “do” less.
Here is how this exhausted mom does devotions.
I manage my expectations with grace.
There are seasons of life when in-depth personal devotions are impossible.
When my son was a small toddler, I was pregnant with our second baby. My brain was so slow that while he was awake, I couldn’t comprehend the scripture that I read. When he napped, I was so exhausted all I could do was read a few verses or a chapter of the Bible before I fell asleep myself.
Remember that our spiritual life is for the long haul. It’s not a short game. We work diligently to sow seeds by dependence on the Spirit. In some seasons we may scatter hundreds of seeds. In others, we will wearily toss one or two into the ground. In both good and difficult circumstances, God’s grace is at work in your life.
I have learned to be ok with days where I can’t do much. God isn’t expecting grandiose devotional output from me. I shouldn’t expect it of myself either.
I just do it.
Exhaustion isn’t an excuse for giving up. You may not be able to do much. THAT is ok. But you can do something.
As I mentioned above, I would read a chapter or a few verses before I passed out.
I have no idea what the Spirit did with that scripture. But I laid my sacrifice of effort at His feet trusting that He would bring fruit in His time.
Disciplining myself to so something, even if it was small, creates a thirst for more. So when my time and energy expand, I want to spend time with Jesus.
Sitting with Him through His word doesn’t feel like a daily burden, but a blessing. Because I can! There have been times where I couldn’t. But today I can!
Today, when I’m exhausted, I fall back on the Devotional Plan Flowchart System.
I take a realistic stock of my day, energy, brainpower, and available time. Then, the Devotional Plan Flowchart will guide me to the appropriate devotional plan for that day.
Most days, I hover between Plans 3 and 5, touching other plans and devotional activities as I have time or need. But on the exhausting days, I land squarely on Plan 1. This is ok!
I read a devotional and pray, trusting God to sustain and feed my weary soul.
I’m so thankful God doesn’t judge us on our ability to do “advanced” devotions daily. He just longs to see a humble, needy heart come to Him in love.
I can do that.
The Devotional Plan Flowchart System takes into account your brainpower, time, and confidence in studying the Bible. The design of each devotional plan encourages you not only to connect with Jesus through His Word but also to grow in your skill in studying the Bible.
Today you may lack all confidence, but over time, you can grow to be someone who loves independent Bible study.
Features:
- Focused on the text of Scripture, each plan and resource points you to Jesus through the power of His word in the Bible.
- 6 different devotional plans customized to your amount of brain-power, time, and confidence.
- The resources needed for each plan are either free or inexpensive. You probably have most of the needed items on your shelf already!
- Every devotional plan can work interchangeably off of your Bible reading plan.
- Works for every genre and book of the Bible. No matter what you are reading in scripture this week, the devotional plan fits.
- Each devotional plan encourages you to focus on certain areas of growth in your BIble study and devotional practice after you have completed the plan.
