I recently spoke at a couple MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) leadership teams about their upcoming year as leaders, nurturers, and hope givers. I was fascinated and deeply encouraged by the theme, A Fierce Flourishing. Every young mom needs to hear that they will FLOURISH especially in the midst of night feedings, tantrums, the very real witching hour, and everything else they are trying to be and do in one day. It’s hard to think about flourishing when we are just trying to survive. I know this extends to moms who have babies who are older as well. I’m no idiot, I get that this hard and life sucking at any age. At any time in our life we want something fresh, something real, and we have a wrestling of the soul when we feel depleted of energy or hope.
I found solace in the verse that anchors the upcoming MOPS year, Isaiah 55:12. It reads, “For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” I love this. It’s a cry of deliverance. Isaiah alludes to the exodus from Egypt and foreshadows redemption in Jesus. Joy is part of the promise when we cave into the strength and grace of Jesus. Deliverance is for all of us, no matter what our fear, anxiety, addiction, or weight, it’s for ALL OF US, everyone gets a piece of the pie. He goes on to say we will be led with peace, did you hear that? Led, someone is ahead drawing us deeper into peace, a triumphant peace without fear of being retaken and sent back to slavery. Not only will be be beckoned with the gift of peace we are rooted on by hills and trees of the field. I get a kick out of how Isaiah uses inanimate objects in his prophecies, evoking a whimsical and glorious deliverance. All heaven is on our team, when we are overcome with fear and head back for the dark hole because we don’t think we can go on even the hills clap us along to our reward, our peace, our victory.
There have been so many times in my life I’ve been bound with hopelessness or wrought with anxiety. Last summer I was struggling with hyperemesis gravidarum in my pregnancy (puking about 15 times a day with extreme nausea 24/7 for 9 months), unsuccessfully house hunting while living out of a suitcase for 4 months, trying to work full time, and feeling a loss of my biological mother who would have a biological grand baby and she would never know. I was miserable. I could barely keep it together. Not to mention all the new changes that come from growing a human (I was the size of a truck, not like a Toyota Tacoma but more like a bread truck). My anxiety was through the roof. I couldn’t see how things would work out. In those moments I had to remember that joy and peace can rush to the rescue, provide me with small doses until I can stand on two feet and then they promise to lead me along to victory, deliver me of anxiety and loss, and not leave me alone, but stick with me.
To fiercely flourish is to dance in the deliverance promised to each of us. To hold tight when it feels like we can’t go on, release what we’ve known that is weighing us down, and march into our promise. When we flourish, celebrating both the hard and sweet times, inviting beauty into our lives, and choosing the wild for ourselves, we create space for our kids and others in our tribe to thrive. We are able to extend our hands to the far reaches of our communities inviting peace and joy for others, cheering them on in their journey. We are uniquely created to be nurturers, hope givers, peace makers, and when we operate outside of our calling we lose momentum, we lose our footing, and we can fumble around in the dark of our souls.
So dear mama, I invite you reach your hand up and grapple around for your deliverance, claiming what was always meant for you, for your opportunity to fiercely flourish, to not just survive but thrive and claim the gems in a difficult time and season. It was always part of the plan.
