Guard One Gate

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6

I remember being a mom of young children, and as much as I loved being home with them, playing with them, making memories in every possible way, and watching them grow and change, I did get very tired. I began to long for the day when they could do things for themselves. I wanted out of the dull routine.

Our children came later in life than for most couples, and I had already had a taste of an adult life without kids. After many years of diapers and drool, then schooling, sports events, dating, teaching to drive, and all the other expended parental efforts, I longed to go back into ministry, back into the workforce, back into a place where it seemed I had value and esteem, where I was noticed and appreciated for my gifts and talents.

It sounds carnal to say these things. These are perhaps rightly considered to be earthly values, not kingdom values. But I felt there was so much I was missing by “just” staying home with the kids.

I wanted to do Big Things For God. Missions work. Evangelism. I wanted to REALLY serve Him, in visible, tangible ways. Noticeable ways. Difference-making ways. I wanted to work among the many, not the few.

I wish I had grasped the concept of contentment with my calling. I wish I hadn’t allowed that itchy feeling of “something’s missing” just under the surface. I wish I hadn’t wanted MORE, always looking for the next thing, more excitement, more fun, more fulfillment.

Looking back, I see that in those days, my calling from the Lord was to “guard just one gate in the city.” The gate I was to guard was my family. I was to guard their bodies, hearts and minds. Mold and shape them. Give them a solid experience of love and care and protection. In other words, to show them the Father.

I wasn’t called to fight the big battles, to be the commander of an army, to sow seed in lands across the oceans, or to clean up the ghettos and the gutters.

Amazingly, when my calling was completed (not that we’re ever actually finished being parents), I saw that the things I wished I could do, I had done. I had fought big battles in raising my kids. I had commanded an army against the enemy who would destroy the one gate I was guarding in my city. The seeds are being sown across the lands in unexpected ways, as my children go out into the world with their own families. The ghettos and the gutters are being cleaned up by the influence of my own family, in both visible and invisible ways.

At least, this is my hope. For I see that I am, in many ways, still guarding the same gate—except now I do it by prayer.

Father, You asked me to guard one gate. I pray that fruit will come. Help us all to be content with Your calling, whether our appointed place is visible or invisible. Amen.