The Joy of Being Finite

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The joy of being what? Let me explain . . .

On Thursday night, Ray and I attended a lecture by Dr. Kelly M. Kapic in nearby Cookeville. Kapic is the author of You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News. I haven’t read the book yet so I am not recommending it at this point. I appreciated many things that Dr. Kapic said, but I must also say that I did not agree with everything. However, that said, Ray and I are grateful for the excellent lessons we learned from this lecture. Isn’t it wonderful that we can learn from people with whom we don’t see everything eye to eye. Oh, how we need many more people who understand that!

Ray has gotten a Kindle version of the book to read himself, so I may have more to say later; but today and for the next couple of days, I want to share a a few points that resonated with me and that I believe will be helpful to you. I am adding Scriptures that teach these concepts.

We are finite.

God is infinite, and we are not. Though it is sobering to realize, it is also liberating to accept the reality that we are finite. When we lie in bed at the end of the day thinking about all the things we think we should have done that day, it is quite possible that it was humanly impossible to have done all of those things.

Dr. Kapic is a college professor. He told the story of a student who once showed him a weekly schedule she had made. Using different colors for every category of activity, she had tried to schedule time for all of the activities that people had said that she should do, activities such as: 8 hours of sleep per day, . . .

The Sleeping Shepherdess, c. 1775
Fulda Pottery and Porcelain Manufactory (German, 1764–1789)
Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982

. . . time to eat three meals a day in a calm setting, . . .

The Dinner Horn
by Winslow Homer
Courtesy Smithsonian Institution,
Gift of Cora Wilson

. . . time for Bible study, time for exercise, time to attend her classes and spend the recommended time in preparation and study, etc. . . .

The student’s conclusion was that there literally were not enough spaces in a week’s 168 hours to schedule time for everything others had told her she should do.

Many, probably most, or perhaps even all homeschooling mamas struggle with fitting everything in. Please consider making a new definition for everything. After all, you are only a finite human. God made you and accepts you that way. He did not make you super human. It is okay if you can’t do it all. Rest in the knowledge that our infinite God can do it all. It might help you turn off those accusing voices just when you are about to experience God’s precious gift of sleep.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep,
For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8

Remember that we can sleep because God never does.

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalm 121:1-4

 

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2 Comments

  1. I really, really appreciated this one Charlene! It really resounds with me right now as I feel stretched thin, even just while at home doing school, cleaning and life with my kids and husband. Thank you! 😊

    • Oh, Christina. I can certainly identify with being stretched thin while homeschooling, cleaning, and living with your kids and husband. Absolutely. That is plenty to feel stretched thin!

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