Pouring Out to be Filled

“I love you. You are my child,” I insisted.

“But why? I am a pain,” my child asserted.

 

“You are young and it is my job to train you so you will love God and be a wise adult,” I replied. “Sometimes you say and do things that hurt my feelings. Sometimes I get irritated when you do not obey or you act disrespectful. But I love you and I learn from you.”

“How do you learn from me?” a doubtful tone edged these words.

“You are a mirror to who I am. . .” I began slowly. “You know when I ask you why did you do that? And you often say I don't know why?”

“Yes,” a meeker voice answered.

“Through you I am learning why I do the things I do,” my heart squeezed tight. “God uses you to make me more like Jesus. I also see your heart of compassion and desire for justice. Your heart challenges me to seek mercy and justice. . .”

This mothering thing is a bleeding and pouring out. It breaks me and brings me to the end of myself. Daily my children remind me I cannot do life without God's help. As I pour myself out to train them up in the way they should go I find there is more room for God. In my emptiness if I look to God He will fill me.

Those days when my nerves feel raw and I have nothing left to give, God is waiting for me to come to Him. I must come to Him empty so He can fill me.

And He never fails to fill me.

What do you do when you are dry and empty?

 

Angela Mackey

Author and Speaker

Angela is a stumbling woman in need of God’s scandalous grace. Through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, she bears the name Christian. She speaks and writes to make much of this God, His only Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who lives in her. She graduated college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and is a Registered Nurse. She also obtained her Masters of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies through Knox Theological Seminary.