What does God require?

So many times I find myself being pulled in a million different directions. As a pastor's wife, wife, and mother, there are so many "good" things that I can give my time to. People have certain expectations and requirements that they feel like I should do. I find myself playing tug of war with my responsibilities as a wife, mother, and a pastors wife.

I never expected to be a pastors wife, and so I never thought that that would be in my list of things to figure out. :) Pete and I often have conversations on what things that he should do or not do and what things we have to shuffle around or not do so that he can do the things that pull at him.

Whew! I find myself many times asking the question, "What does God REALLY require of us?" What is it that at the end of the day will be important to the one who matters most, God!

It's so hard to know what are the "best" things to give yourself to when you have a family and many other responsibilities. God is teaching me that the most important thing is found right in scripture.

One day, when Pete was having a particularly hard day to handle, God led me to this verse in Micah 6:8. It says, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

This verse brings such peace to my heart because it reminds me that doing what God requires of us is not really as complicated as we make it. The thing that pleases Jesus is for us to be just, merciful, and humble before him.  Sometimes that means we have to choose not to do some of the things that others want us to do, and that's ok. If the ways we are serving are sapping all the life out of us and taking away from the time we need to focus on our relationship with Christ, then those things need to go.

This is a constant struggle for me because I LOVE to serve! It's in my spiritual DNA. When God saved me, he gave me a heart to serve, and I get GREAT joy in doing it. But, like with every positive thing in your life, there can be a negative if you don't watch it. For me, it's to be so busy working for God that I lose track of working with God. God is helping me to strike that balance and learn to get my approval from Him. I love Jesus so much, and there is not a day that goes by that when my mind thinks about it, I am not truly amazed that He chose to save me!

Thank you Jesus for loving me and saving me!