We nurture others with the strength God supplies (1 Pet. 4:10– 11). All that energy—the caregiving and discipling and serving and multitasking—is his energy. Everything we lack is found in him. And when we’re exhausted, when we feel the dusty earth of the Calvary road, we can remember that it’s especially then that the life of Jesus is manifested in us (2 Cor. 4:10). It’s then that Jesus gives us more of himself, proving over and over that he is enough, that he is good, that there is more joy in him than in the grain and wine that abound (Ps. 4:7)—or in the kids who never make messes and the dinner that prepares itself and the schedules that operate seamlessly. He is better.
Only Jesus
We need childlike faith to raise up the Lord’s children—faith that he is glad to give us. The life of Christ in us is our empowering, equipping, unleashing energy for nurturing others. It is his strength that gives us what we need in order to nurture life in the face of death, even through the million deaths to self we die each day. We need to remember that the little blueberry-sized fruits borne by the Holy Spirit are part and parcel of his kingdom.
There’s no way a finite, nurturing heart can hold all these things, but Jesus can, Jesus does, Jesus will.
