When You Feel Inadequate

Courtesy: Lisa Tarplee Photography

Being a mom is a bone weary job. We are wakened early and go non-stop until we slowly pull open our child’s bedroom door and sneak in to find that they are finally asleep. Then we crash in our own bed and breathe out an audible sigh of relief that we made it to the end of the day.

Being a mom is a soul weary job as well. We give from the very depths of our being to the eternal souls entrusted into our care. We teach, train, discipline, nurture, love, and disciple our kids each and every day. We intervene in sibling conflicts and instruct in the way of love. We give grace, forgive, and help them try again.

If you are anything like me, some days I just don’t have what it takes. On those days, everything seems to hit me at once. The kids wake up on the wrong side of the bed. They fight all day. No one listens. I can’t seem to get anything done. My head throbs, my teeth are on edge, and I could really use a minute to myself.

There are many days that I feel inadequate to do this job. I feel underqualified and understaffed. I wonder how I even got the job in the first place. “I should be fired” becomes part of my daily mutterings. Reaching the end of my rope, I give up in helplessness and defeat.

It’s there, when I’ve reached my end, when Jesus whispers, “You are right where you need to be.”

“What? Here? In this place of helplessness?” I ask.

“Yes. Right here is where you belong.”

How could that be? Isn’t a mom supposed to know what they are doing? Shouldn’t I be strong and capable?

Then I remember the gospel. I smile and nod my head. Yes, right here is where I need to be.

The gospel is for the weak and helpless. It’s for the incompetent, inadequate, and incapable. Jesus stepped into human flesh and lived the life we could not live. He was competent for us. He was strong for us. And He gave up His perfect life so we wouldn’t have to.

I come to Christ each and every day weak and helpless. He doesn’t expect anything different and wants nothing more. Being an inadequate mom is the right place to be because being helpless is the door that opens to His grace. Jesus stands ready to give me His strength. He works in and through me and I become a conduit of His grace to my children.

As my pastor once said, “God doesn’t call the capable, He makes capable the called.” So today, I give up on having everything together and being capable. Instead, I am a mom who parents from her knees, a helpless vessel before my Savior. Free to be inadequate because Jesus was and is more than adequate in and through me.

Christina Fox is a homeschooling mom, licensed mental health counselor, writer, and coffee drinker, not necessarily in that order. She lives in sunny S. Florida with her husband of sixteen years and their two boys. You can find her sharing her faith journey at To Show Them Jesus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ToShowThemJesus.