MAKE ME WHOLE MINI-SERIES PART 3: MAKE ME EMPTY

Make me Empty is a topic that was hard for me to really grasp. I related so easily to make me lonely and make me broken, but what does make me empty really mean? As I thought on and prayed about this subject over the past month God gave me some wisdom to share. 

To be emptied out of our own will does not always mean that we are filled with “bad” things. While yes, many of us may be struggling with the idols of this world such as too much media, money or financial gain, alcohol or drug dependency, too often we overlook the less obvious ways in which our lives are filled to the brim. Maybe we are "yes women"... you know, the women who say "yes" to everything. "Yes, I will run MOPS." "Yes, I will go on a short-term missions trip this year." "Yes, I will serve in nursery every single Sunday for the next year." "Yes, I will watch your children." "Yes, I will make a meal for the family who just had a baby." "yes, yes, yes." 

While none of those things are bad-- and in fact they are very good ministries to be involved in-- they can only be good things in our personal lives if they are the areas that God is calling us to. God has so many blessings that He wants to pour over our lives. He has so many opportunities waiting for us and our testimony; opportunities that only we can fill. How are we going to fill them though, if we never give God the opportunity to work by constantly filling up our lives, our time, and hearts with the things that we have willed for ourselves? 

Let’s face the facts, we "yes women" tend to say "yes" because we like the appreciation that we receive from completing so many tasks, we don’t want to be outdone by the next woman, or our pride gets in the way. We need to learn to say "no" to our selfish reasoning in ministry and start saying "yes" to the tasks that God designed us specifically for. 

"Let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't." (Romans 12:2-3, MSG).

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Lindsey Hayes

Lindsey is a wife and mother of 5 small children ranging in age from 1 to 11 years. Lindsey is currently into her seventh year of homeschooling. Lindsey intends to homeschool each of her children as a way to give them an affordable Christian education as well as a learning environment that can be tailor-made to each of their individual needs.The past year brought many new things: A season of stepping out in faith as the Lord led her and her family to new people and places and has opened up doors to ministry that Lindsey's heart has been preparing for over the course of several years. As she is overcome by the Lord's blessing, she looks forward to the revolution that is about to take place. Sure of God's movement in the lives of women, Lindsey continues to push forward towards the goals of developing a better sense of community and purpose for the daughters of the King.