Overflowing Hope

I have this mission for how I want to live my life, and it has boiled down to one word:  Overflow.

Romans 15:13 NIV

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I want to be filled up with the hope of God, His joy, His peace, and overflow that by the power of the Holy Spirit onto my husband, my children, my community, and beyond. I don’t want to give more of myself to those I love. I won’t satisfy. I won’t ever be enough. And so I want to give them more of Him!

See, I want my life to be filled up by the Lord in such a massive and powerful way that what comes out of me — my mouth, my thoughts, my actions — is an overflow of Him in me.

I know I can’t do this on my own — it is too holy and sacred of a pursuit. God needs to do this in me, through the working of the Holy Spirit. This mission requires a willingness to surrender my life, pursue disciplined living, and be humbly repentant. Yes, repentant, because I fail often. {Like last week, when the schedule was so crazy getting time with the Lord was nearly impossible and by the end of the week I was nothing but a bundle of anxious nerves and short-tempered words!}

This filling up of God in me requires time — my time.  And time seems to be in great demand for us mommas, right!  The truth is, however, I’ve got to put aside my “to do” list to sit quietly with Him in the Word — even for five minutes — no matter how challenging the schedule becomes! {And even when school trips, community gatherings, deadlines, and special events all collide in the same week.}

Yes, I’ve also have to go to bed earlier in order to rise before the rest of the family to meet with Him in solitude, even when I’d rather sleep.  I’ve got to embrace the Overflow Method and prioritize my day so that the dishes and email and Facebook posts wait in order to read the Word. Ugh. It is so hard! And I know I am not alone in this struggle!

I fail at these seemingly simple goals to find my filling at the Cross, as I listen to the deceptive whispers of the enemy: “Ah, it is no big deal. You can have your quiet time later. Just get that thing out of the way so that you can concentrate.” Hog wash.

In God’s economy, when you put Him first,
He orders your life with a portion of Himself
that puts everything in perspective and
brings strength into your weakest places.
{click to tweet this thought}

We’re so quick to forget that God’s ways and instructions require more than our feelings to make them true. From the very beginning, the Enemy has played upon our emotion to steer God’s people off course. To steal our joy. To rob our hope. To destroy our purpose.

So living from the overflow requires a full on defensive stance to withstand Satan’s distractions and deceptive maneuvers, especially on us women (I don’t care how young or old you are) who are seeking to glorify in every day life.

We have to stand on guard and engage in the battle from every angle. I have this one friend with whom we’ve made this silent agreement to confess to each other when our priorities are askew. I tell my husband when I feel my focus is off-kilter. I have “overflow” printed on the back of my iPhone case, because my phone can be a constant source of distraction. And I willingly take on opportunities that put me at the risk of scrutiny of other Christians — even though it terrifies me — because being a woman who writes, speaks, and organizes a conference for moms, is something that requires both the daily discipline of being in the word and a greater accountability in answering to the Lord (thank you very much, James, for that reminder!). {By the way, if you want to be one my of my prayer sisters, come join my Jump Sisters group. I could use you!}

Sometimes I want to run from this responsibilities to slink away into my wayward living without anyone calling me into account. But just as that thought comes through my mind, I realize there he is again — the Enemy stealing it all. Including my hope. And that, my friends, I refuse to give into.  So even if I am a mess  — leading an imperfect Christian life — I won’t give up pursuing God to overflow Himself in me, because the promise of overflowing His hope, joy, and peace upon others is a call I am willing to embrace, even if it is hard.

Do you need His hope overflowing onto you and through you?  I want to overflow that hope upon you — not from myself — but from Him. I pray you will consider attending the Raising Generations Today Conference next spring — we promise Hope from Him! Now is your chance to grab one of 25 tickets available at $10 off — sale starts on Tuesday, May 7th at 12:01 am. Plus we are giving away one ticket through a little celebration opportunity!  Head on over to www.raisinggenerationationstoday.com this week to learn more or use the Raffelcopter entry form below!

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