Mom’s used to call it “me-time.” Now the term “self-care” is all the rage. Every mother has needed some downtime at one point or another. And I am no stranger to this need. But if you come at it from the wrong angle, the real need to be refreshed will never be met.
We need to put a few things in perspective. I don’t need to “get away from it all so I can focus on me. I may be really showing my age here, but I still remember the old Calgon commercial, “Calgon, take me away.” As a beautiful woman sinks down in a beautiful bubble bath.
What you and I really need is to be refreshed in both body and soul SO THAT we can go back to what we are called to do with strength and joy. I still have little ones that need to be cared for, as well as big ones that need me, and a household to run. You may have a job, grandchildren or teenagers tugging at your attention.
Whatever or whoever it is that needs you, needs you whole and well. But sometimes, oftentimes, we find that we are weary and broken. As women, we so often push beyond our limits because we are needed and there are no others to fill our shoes. That, my friends, is the reality many of us have to face every.single.day.
Does the woman of God run and hide?
So…What is a godly woman to do? Does she run and hide her head in the sand, pretending to not see all the needs around her. Does she start a bubble bath and pretend the house is not catching on fire outside the bathroom door. Or maybe, she should run to the coffee shop to meet her best friend, and howl about how hard her life is, because, we all know that makes everything better. NOT!
The need for self-care is real. Even Jesus needed time on the mountain alone to pray and be refreshed. And that is the point. Jesus did it so that he could go back and serve the crowds some more. He was strengthened to return to the people.
We must be refreshed and strengthened to return to our people, little or big, family or friend. Self-care is ultimately about caring for others. If you are running so hard that you have no energy for your husband at the end of the day, you need to practice some self-care, in order that you have more to give.
That old saying, “You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip,” means that you can’t get something out of someone who has nothing left to give. It was originally referring to money, but boy does it apply to us today. We cook and clean, run kids around, maybe go off to a job where there are more demands, serve at church, and try to meet the needs of our husbands.
And these are all good things.
Sometimes we can say no to things. Sometimes we have already said no to everything that we possibly could, and we are still overwhelmed.
And that is when we need God to show up in our lives. And that is where He wants us to be, needing Him. Life is not meant to be easy. We are not called to eliminate things so that we can be comfortable and have a life of ease.
We must allow ourselves to be spent and poured out.
God meant for us to be spent, to be poured out. But He also intends for us to be filled up again, SO THAT we can be spent and poured out again.
Maybe you have heard that Martin Luther quote, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” This is the heartbeat of our need. It is only in the Lord that we can find the strength to go on. It is only in the Lord that we can find the peace to let go. It is only in the Lord that we can find the wisdom to discern when we are to go on or to let go.
No, life is not a bubble bath. But there is nothing wrong with taking one if it gives you the quiet place to pray, restore your tired body and be refreshed. But then rinse those bubbles off, get dressed and get back to the work God has placed before you.
