Seasons of Life

Based on Numbers 15-16, Mark 6:1-29

Every season of life comes with its challenges, and some seasons have more challenges & restrictions than others. As Moms, we have many reasons to fall in love with our season of little ones...but also many reasons why it's the most challenging and isolating time of our lives. But whatever season we're in (as I've been reminded by many friends and family), it's only a season. It will pass. And in this season, we should embrace the lessons learned & love shared...and I'm sure we will realize the good far outweighs the bad!

"This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?" Numbers 16:6‭-‬10.

In the above passage, the sons of Levi, particularly the sons of Korah from the tribe of Levi, were impatient and displeased with the season they were in. They wanted a different purpose. They wanted more and lost the importance of what they were already doing for The Lord. But Moses reminded them that they were set in that place for a special purpose-he said, "seemeth it but a small thing?"

What you are doing is NOT a small thing...being a Mom and dealing with small people on a daily basis can sometimes seem like a purpose that's stuck in one place. One stage or phase of our children's lives can seem like it will be impossible to "graduate" from...but growth IS happening! Things WILL change! And soon they won't be so little anymore...cherish the "small" things!

One of the hardest things can be translation-helping them understand. As a homeschool Mom I run into this on a regular basis. But once the hurdle of explanation is overcome, and they finally pick up on the lesson or moral of a story, it's so rewarding. It's like you gave them a gift and they finally realize what it is! Yes, we'll have our tough days. Days where we need to re-evaluate our explanations and try better the next day...but Jesus' disciples ran into the exact same thing, even with the urgent salvational message! And Jesus suffered the greatest rejection of all...

"And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them." Mark 6:10‭-‬13.

There was good, and there was bad. Bottom line: dust yourself off and move on! With our children, we have the blessing of living with them. We have many more days to get our message across than some of the people the disciples spoke to...for some of those people, it could have been their only chance to hear the message before the disciples left to visit another town. Again, we should be thankful we can keep our children close...honestly, we are ALL God's projects. God has work to do on each one of us, not just our children. In fact, Jesus says we should BECOME like little children in our faith: "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 18:4.

We can learn so much through our struggles. It's a time for our children to grow, but also ourselves. Rain or shine, appreciate your season!