Working with Faithfulness When Our Bodies Are Weak
As a work-from-home mom, I flit from task to task all day long. Whether it’s washing laundry or writing, meal planning or preparing Bible study materials, scrubbing toilets or waiting in school pick-up lines, my days are never the same but always full. I’ve long thrived on a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day, feeling that a day well lived is reflected in a to-do list well checked. I used to believe that faithfulness in my job as a working mom could only be measured by output. In my late twenties, however, I began exhibiting regular physical symptoms that challenged that belief. Ten years later, I have learned to live with an incurable autoimmune disease that causes inflammatory arthritis. While I have many good days with relatively low amounts of pain, I also have intense flare-ups that can last months. During those flare-ups, any hope of being faithful to my work evaporates as I focus simply on getting through the day and completing the most necessary tasks.
For many moms, our work—paid or not—must continue when we don’t feel well. How do we practice faithfulness in our work when we don’t have the energy or margin to tackle our normal tasks? Are we faithful on the days we feel strong and accomplished but unfaithful on the days we feel weak and need rest?
True faithfulness is being wholly devoted to Christ in every season of life. While circumstances and responsibilities ebb and flow, faithfulness to Christ is our everyday calling. No matter the season, we are called to keep persevering in the faith.[1] And we are well equipped to obey that calling because God has given us everything we need for life and godliness![2] The outworking of our faithfulness, especially regarding our everyday tasks, might look different depending on our circumstances, but we can still walk in faithfulness when we experience frustrating limitations. The undone to-do list might remind us of our weaknesses, but our weaknesses can point us to our strong God.
Work wasn’t always supposed to be so hard. It wasn’t supposed to be linked with feelings of pride or despair. God created Adam and “put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15). That’s before Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3. We often bemoan the frustrations and futility of our work, but God’s plan for work was good. The challenging aspects of work are a result of the fall. Adam’s sin against God resulted in hard work with little return. As moms, we understand the feelings of fruitlessness when we’re wiping up spills for the hundredth time or folding laundry that will soon get dirty again. When we’re further limited in fruitful work because our bodies are in pain or our minds are foggy, we might be tempted to find our identity in our output—or lack thereof.
When we can’t be as productive as we’d like as moms, we might struggle with feelings of guilt or shame. It’s humbling to have to ask for help or to leave tasks unfinished. But the awareness of our limitations comes with a sweet realization of our neediness for Christ. We were desperate for his atoning work at the cross to save us from our sins, and we are desperate for his daily sanctifying work in our hearts. Our weaknesses reveal our neediness acutely. And that’s not a bad thing. When God makes us aware of our desperate dependence upon him to work, accomplish, create, or to simply make it through the day, we see that our faithfulness is tightly tied to his. Faithfulness in our work isn’t necessarily about being the most productive or the most accomplished. Being faithful in our work means that whatever our hands find to do, we do for his glory and in his strength, no matter how strong or weak we might feel.
A few months ago, during an especially difficult streak of painful days and nights, my repeated prayer to the Lord was one of survival: “Lord, please help me get through this day.” I didn’t know how I was going to make it to my children’s bedtime while fighting so much pain and fatigue. Hour by hour, I had to pray for his help; I didn’t know what else to do. In my weakness, I was keenly aware of my need for his faithful presence. When I sifted through the most pressing emails, he was aware of my feelings of overwhelm.[3] While I prepped a no-fuss dinner and leaned on an icepack in the pick-up line, I remembered that Jesus was praying for me.[4] When I moved some important meetings to the following week, he was aware of my discouragement and comforted me with his nearness.[5] When I had to ask a friend from church for help with my children, he provided rest through his body.[6] When I went to bed exhausted and feeling like I could have done better, he gave me rest and waited with new mercies for the next morning.[7]
More recently, I’ve had a longer run of good days where my pain levels are low and my to-do list has been regularly completed. On those days, I am tempted to think that I am a better mom, a better wife, a better employee, a better Christian. You might feel that way when you finally got the baby to sleep all night, when the laundry hamper was fully emptied for a couple of hours, or when you miraculously cleared your inbox. While it isn’t wrong to enjoy a sense of accomplishment, faithfulness in work isn’t always indicated by a fully checked to-do list. Faithfulness is pressing forward in spite of our challenges and struggles, holding tightly to our Savior who holds tightly to us. Faithfulness recognizes that when we are weak, he is strong.
[1] Colossians 1:21-23, Hebrews 3:14, James 5:11
[2] 2 Peter 1:3
[3] Psalm 40:17
[4] Hebrews 7:25
[5] Psalm 34:18
[6] Galatians 6:2
[7] Lamentations 3:22-23
