Outlive Your Life

This is the title of a very challenging study by Max Lucado. Our small group is going through this together. Here's one of the questions Max asked: How would you tell your story of why you need God? What has God done in you that changed your life from what it was before?
Here's my answer: Around y2k, which was also the year of my fifth pregnancy, I decided I needed to work on being a kinder and gentler mom. I tried, I prayed, I tried, and I tried some more. And six years later it became abundantly clear that I had some major character flaws that were making me a not-so-good parent, and I hadn't been able to become the mom my daughters needed me to be, in spite of my efforts. I now see that this was the beginning of a major learning curve. My failures were part of God's plan. With the help of the amazing people at Exchanged Lives Ministries, as well as some other dear Christians, I began to see that my frustration was necessary for me to give up on trying to change myself. I began to realize that I was created for a dependent relationship with God, abiding in Him as I walk through my day. The branch cannot live independently but must draw its life from the Vine. I used to grit my teeth and try to be kind when the kids were trying my patience. Now I turn to Jesus and let the kindness flow out of my heart where He lives. The battle of faith is to believe that this is true (I haven't forgotten my unloving moments in the past, even the recent past). It is true! Jesus lives in His people!
I was thinking about Matthew 11:28-30, when Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Do-it-yourself Christianity isn't a light burden. It's a killer burden, not to mention impossible. But Jesus says, "Come to Me." That's all we do. We come to Him, and all the strength, all the love, everything comes from Him. That's the easy yoke. That takes all the pressure off us. Ahhhhhh, that's more like living!