Mother's Day Tribute to All Daughters...My Goodness but You Are Loved...

Dear Daughter

Theology in the Trenches

by Kathleen Kjolhaug

You’ve got this girl. You’ve got this cause He’s got you and don’t you ever forget it.

It’s the Truth, you know and now that you do know, more will be expected (Luke 12:48). No more excuses that enable you to bite into what the world’s selling because you know more. What’s more, you know that you know. Run the race laid out before you putting all else behind (Heb. 12:1).

You’ve got the power to do just that. Your mama’s prayers have been heard, your grandma’s prayers have been heard, and her mama’s prayers have been heard…and on it goes as it moves up the line now from your vantage point. “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus” (Luke 1:42). You are the fruit of prayer.

“We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” enough to die for us (Rom. 8:37). He has conquered so put off the pettiness of what’s pulling you down cause you are standing on the Rock. It’s foundational.

Oh the battleground

may look more like a playground; however, it is anything but. There are playgrounds of folly on all sides but the reality is you get to “choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).  Truth is, it’s already been decided because He says is clear, “You did not choose me, but I chose you (John 15:16). He has chosen you! There it is all plain like just staring with grace in our face…equipping us to live out that which we are called to live.

The prayers that have gone before you will help “lead you on His paths of righteousness for His namesake” (Ps. 23:3). Often it becomes clearer where He is leading by better seeing where He is not leading. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13). You know it well. It’s not so much that you won’t be tempted, but the truth of the matter is you will know where to turn when you are.

So what happens when the white noise all around becomes cool in color and murky in texture which beckons? Isaiah 53:3 brings clarity. “Despised and rejected by men” He was. You, too, can expect to be rejected by those who are seeking any other way but His. The Light shines in the darkness and once He enters in through your hands and feet…rooms will be illuminated to expose that which is not of Him. That’s how it works.

People don’t like Light shed into darker parts of their worlds. Truth-be-told, neither do I and neither will you. Handing over that log in our own eye will better equip us to see with the eyes of Christ. It's a gift. Receive correction well as you confess frequently that which He desires to remove. He doesn’t want to expose, He merely wants to lift your burden so you may receive. His Word comforts as it “equips you for every good work which has been prepared ahead of time for you” (2 Tim. 3:17). No need to hide out in pockets of shame. Bring it forth and give it to Him cause, after all, that’s why He came.

“Through His wounds we are healed” (Is. 53:5). It does not say we might be healed. It does not say that we will be healed. It says we ARE healed. You can take that to the bank. If you cling to lies that say you are not, it will only to stifle the love He desires to infuse. Romans 5:8 is the reset button of Truth. “He came while we were yet sinners.”

Remember that woman in John 8 who was forgiven? She was caught red-handed doing things she well should not have been doing. What the sin is…matters not. What matters are the words He spoke. “I do not condemn you. Go. From now on sin no more.”

He did not wag His finger making it conditional. He did not say that if you sin again, I’m going to return and let the crowds stone you because after all…this is conditional. No. He did not say that. What He did was equip the woman by empowering her with the command that she would be able to go…and sin no more…not because of herself would she be able to do this but through His power in her. He says to you, “Go now, and sin no more.”

As you confess…He equips with forgiveness and the ability to receive as love sprouts forth. Heart valves will be unclogged and your ability to respond to others with the compassion will usher in a new way in which to see this big beautiful world in which you have been placed “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

So what is this all about? It’s your mama here, reminding you that you have Holy Orders. Carry them out with delight. Your faith has equipped you to do just that. Amen.