How Did He Do It?

My favorite parts of the Bible are the gospels about Jesus Christ.  If I'm paying attention, I learn something new every time I read them.

Lately I've been contemplating how Jesus found time to do "everything".  He had a lot on his plate.  He had to train up a bunch of unruly, undisciplined disciples.  He had to heal a whole bunch of physically ill people.  He had to cast out demons.  He had to teach and preach to thousands.  He had to withstand the contempt and opposition of the religious leaders of the day.  He had to stand firm against the temptations of Satan.  And He did all these things with the shadow of the cross hanging over Him.

And of course, He did it all well.  As Kevin points out, it helps that He is God.  :-).

Still, there are lessons to be learned from Him, even for a mere mortal like myself.  I often feel stretched to the limit by my, comparitively speaking, unpressured life.  I only have 7 children to train up.  I only have one house to care for.  I only have 5 children to homeschool this year. 

So, how did He do it?

The critical point, I believe, is that Jesus did what the Father told Him to do.  No more, no less.

He often would go out to lonely places to pray and seek the Father's will about what He should do.

The Bible says that Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man as He grew up.  So there was a time when He didn't know enough to teach and preach.  Still, why did He wait until He was 30 to start preaching and teaching?  Because the Father told Him to.  So, throughout His 20's, He waited quietly, presumably living as a carpenter. 

During His years of ministry, there were crowds of people clamoring for him to stay in their towns and heal, but if it was time for Him to move on to another place, He did.

A dear friend, Lazarus, got sick and the word reached Jesus that Lazarus needed help. There was much pressure for immediate action, but the Father said no, wait.  Jesus did wait, Lazarus died, and the family and friends were upset with Jesus.  Jesus then raised Lazarus from the dead as a sign of God's power and glory.  The same family members were overjoyed, but experienced great sorrow before the great resurrection.  Jesus didn't take the easy road there in terms of his relationships with this friends, but He followed His Father's directions.

I've been realizing that the best way for me to do my job, and to discern between all the possible things I CAN do, is to seek the Father's wisdom on what to do and what not to do.

This is in fact one of the regular prayers when Kevin and I pray together, that God will grant us wisdom.

Now of course, some things are "givens".  I don't need to pray about whether I should fix food, make sure clothes are laundered, nurse the baby, and teach and train our children.

But I can and do pray for wisdom on how to do those things, and how to decide about other exciting options out there.  Should we go on extensive field trips, or get involved in certain activities outside the home?  Should I go with a time intensive, but productive, curricula?  Or should I go with something where more of the work is done for me?

How does the Lord want Kevin and me to keep our marriage strong?  What do we need to do to make time for our relationship?

There are a myriad of choices to be decided on each and every day of our lives.  I am not Jesus, and I will never have perfect communion with the Father this side of Heaven. I'll never hear God's voice 100% correctly.  But just seeking His will helps. I know He does care, and will guide me if I seek His will.   I know the process of asking the questions points me towards being flexible in my decisions instead of blindly doing what feels good at the spur of the moment.  I know that praying and keeping an open mind about options helps me avoid following paths because I've done something all my life and am reluctant to change.