Seeds of Faith: Lies Women Believe About Priorities

By: Hallee
On: 05 Nov 2011

As I read this chapter 5 of Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets them Free, I could not help but think of the preview for the movie I Don’t Know How She Does It. The Plugged In review said:

Kate Reddy has her friends and family amazed. How can one woman be a full-time investment analyst; a mom to a toddler and a kindergartner; and nimble enough to keep her house in order, her husband happy and her hair well-coiffed—all while running like the wind in a pair of stylish shoes?

You know what the movie’s title is. And that’s exactly what everyone around her says: I don’t know how she does it!

Well, the truth is, she doesn’t do it very well. She really loves all the different parts of her life. But like one of those plate spinners on the old Ed Sullivan Show, poor Kate has to quickly scamper back and forth between each of her responsibilities to keep them twirling. And it’s driving her a little crazy.

I think that most women can identify with this.

On top of the job, the husband, the kids, the pride that demands that all things around her are perfect, add to that list a relationship with God and ministry responsibilities, and you have a woman who will near collapse or a breakdown soon.

The thing is, that with a society that almost demands that a woman have a career to the point of introducing such watered down and agonizing terms as “stay at home mom”, so many woman are just trying to do it “all” and aren’t doing any of the important things – or at least not doing them well. Often, women who don’t have professional careers get just as – if not more- bogged down with volunteerism, activities, children’s activities, and so forth. We think, without thinking, that because we don’t have to sit at a desk from 9-5 every weekday that we have a huge a mount of time on our hands.

I often think that it would be nice to not have to leave the house for an entire 24 hour period – that my van or car wouldn’t have to be started for any reason.

The truth is that most of us don’t have our priorities in order at all. If you study scripture, you’ll find that God should be our first priority. Period. If we aren’t making time for reading the Bible and praying to God, then we need a serious schedule overhaul and create that time every single day. Our husbands should be our second priority. Our children are next. Everything else must follow those three. Too often, God gets leftovers, and husband and children get worked into our “lives”.

I have the companion guide for this book, and out of the dozens of study questions for chapter 5, I have chosen just a few of the questions. However, these are meaty, deep thinking questions. This guide is designed for you to work a chapter a week, and work through several self-searching questions every day. You may find it beneficial in our study of this book to have your own guide and be able to go through every question. But, for our purposes here, following are just a few questions:

1. The word “priority” comes from the Latin word prior, which means “first.” Our priorities are the things that take “first place” in our time and attention. We all live by priorities. The question is, are we living by the right priorities? Are we putting first things first? Matthew 6:25-24 says: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. What are some of the things that compete for “first place” in our lives? What should be the top priorities for every child of God?

2. Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus said to His Father, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” John 17:4. If your goal in life is to glorify God and to finish the work He has given you to do, how should that affect your daily schedule and the way you use your time?

3. Job 23:12 says: I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. And, Matthew 4:4 says: But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” What do these verses help us understand about the priority of consistent intake of the Word of God into our lives? In what sense is “feeding” on the Word even more important than eating physical food?

4. Do you have a daily habit of spending time alone with God, reading His Word and praying? If not, what usually gets in the way?

5. What are some of the consequences our culture has reaped as a result of women’s hearts being lured away from their homes? For wives and moms: Ask God to show you if there are any secondary priorities that have infringed on your primary calling as a wife and mother. Record anything He places on your heart. What changes do you need to make in order to be faithful in fulfilling your responsibility to your family?

I’m blogging at Seeds of Faith today. Click here to read this post there.

Hallee

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