Why the Days Feel So Long: God’s Purpose in a Mom’s Everyday Moments

 Do the days ever feel so long as a mom? Between homework, dishes, and exhaustion, it can feel like there’s no end in sight. In this episode, Jenna shares how God met her in a simple moment at the kitchen table—and revealed that the long days of motherhood are not wasted. Discover why God allows the slow seasons, how He uses them to shape your heart, and why His love can’t be rushed. This one will encourage every mom who’s wondering if she’s doing enough… and remind you that God is right there in the everyday. 

Transcript

Welcome And Episode Focus

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This is Jenna Marie Masters with the Real Moms Real Faith Podcast. I am so glad you're here so you can be encouraged to trust God with all the things one day at a time. Hello, hope your week has

Why The Days Feel So Long

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been good. We are back, and this week we're going to be talking about why do the days feel so long when you're a mom? I mean, is there a reason? Is this part of God's plan? I felt like God gave me an answer a couple weeks ago. Last week we talked about what it means to be poor in spirit as a mom. So if you haven't listened to episode 22, I highly encourage you to go take a listen to that. It sets a really firm foundation for what I'm going to be talking about today. A mom who's poor in spirit is a mom whose spirit that cries out, Jesus, I need you. Not just in the big things, but in the little things of everyday life and how that takes time and it takes practice.

The Homework Struggle And A Whisper

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And God really showed me this a couple weeks ago when I was struggling to help my daughter with her homework. I have a first grader, but I feel like it's a real test of faith and patience for me. And I realized I was just kind of starting to farm it out. And when the homework would come home, I would be like, you know what? I'm just gonna have Aaron do this part. Hey, when your daddy gets home, he can help you. Or, you know what, let's just turn on a show for like 15 minutes and then we'll start your homework. Or maybe we should go to bed early tonight and read an extra book. Because for me, doing the homework for some reason, it was just so hard for me to sit down and be patient with her. It's like I was bowing down on the outside, looking like I was being a good mom, but on the inside, I was really standing up because I knew God was asking me to take the time and do the homework with her. Honestly, it just felt hard and I was tired by the end of the day. In the midst of sitting down in the kitchen one evening doing some math homework with her, I felt like the Lord just whispered into my spirit, Jenna, I know the days feel long. And I was like, Yes, Jesus, the days feel so long right now. And I felt like he just whispered into my heart, these days are long for a reason. There is no shortcut to learn what I want to teach you. And the sassy part of me was like, Let me guess, Jesus. You want to teach me to be more patient with her. I know all of your talking points. I know what you're gonna say, I know what the Bible says, I know I need to be more patient, slow to anger, slow to speak, all the things.

God’s Patience Revealed In Motherhood

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But the Lord was really quick back and the Holy Spirit just said to me, No, I want to show you how patient I am with you, Jenna. The days are long for a reason because it takes time for me to love you and to shepherd you and to lead you to be the mom I want you to be. And there is no shortcut to understanding that kind of love. There is no shortcut to becoming the mom I've called you to be. And honestly, some days homework can feel like suffering. At the same time, it feels a lot like saving. Because when I bow my spirit to God and I say, I need you, I can't do this on my own. He is so faithful to meet me over and over again, not just on the cross to save my life, but in every single day. He's saving me in the laundry and in the dishes and the homework and when I was a young mom, the diapers. Last week I shared that one of the roots for the word core in the verse, blessed are the poor in spirit, is to fall down. But the other root word is to be terrified. So really we should be falling on our face before the Lord, terrified of what our lives will look like without him. Like if I'm not surrendering to God in all the things, even the homework, that means I'm surrendering to someone else or to myself. And if I'm not surrendering my marriage to God, my children, my career, my relationships, the hard in-laws, there should be a really holy fear inside of me right now. Because think of it this way: if God is love, if God is the giver of all good gifts, if God is wisdom and comfort, if he is the one who has plans to prosper us and not to

Poor In Spirit And Holy Fear

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harm us, and then we leave him out of the equation, what's left? I asked my 15-year-old son this in the kitchen the other day, and he said, Well, nothing good. And he's right. How can I expect love? How can I expect wisdom? How can I expect peace to come into any situation in my life, big or small, if I keep out the one that is good, the one that is peace, the one that is wisdom and love and power. It seems crazy when you really think of it that way. But life gets in the way, life gets busy, we get distracted. And like I said, it takes work, it takes discipline and takes a choice to invite him into every little situation, even the homework.

Choosing Surrender In Small Moments

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Here's the good news. We do have a choice, right? And then even better news is when we fall on our face before Jesus and we say, I need you right now in the kitchen, I need you in this conversation with my son. He never leaves us untouched on the floor. When people fall on their face at Jesus' feet in the Bible, he doesn't leave them there. They are healed. People are raised from the dead, people are forgiven, they're filled with courage and their purpose. Jesus doesn't leave our lives on the floor. In James 4.10, it says, humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. If we want to see God move in our lives, in the lives of our children and in our marriage, then we need to move to our knees first. We're never going to see the face of God until we fall on ours. I want to go back to something that happened

Falling On Our Faces And Being Lifted

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over a month ago when we saw a widow publicly forgive the killer of her husband in the news. I guarantee there was a part of that widow's spirit that really wanted to stand up on the inside when God asked her to forgive. I know I would feel very defiant in that area if someone had just killed my husband. But you know what that indicates to me? Not because I knew this widow, because of other godly women I've watched in my life. Whenever I have seen other women bow down before the Lord and fall on their face and say, God, I need you, when the big things hit, it usually indicates to me that they have made a habit of the heart to fall on their face before the Lord in the little things, the everyday things. They're the moms that say, This pickup line sucks. And I'm tired and I'm crouching. I don't want to let that other driver in right now. God, I need you to help me be kind. It's the mom who's in the middle of a fight with her husband and she wants to bring up something that he has done in the past that he's already apologized for. And she says, Jesus, I need you to help me hold my tongue and not to hold that against him. I've already forgiven him for that. Help me not to bring that up. It's that mom who's in tears, changing the 20th diaper of the day, falling on her face and saying, Jesus, I need strength to do this. I want to give up. It's those moms who create a habit of the heart saying, I need you, Jesus, in the little things. That when the big things hit, it is almost like a natural response to them because they have done this over and over and over again. And for me, a couple weeks ago, it was the homework. And look how God met me. Look what he taught me in that. He is the God who loves us too much to leave us on the floor. Last week, I talked about the last temptation that Satan gave to Jesus when he was being tested in the wilderness. He was offering Jesus an easy way out from the cross, an easy way

Jesus In Gethsemane: Choosing Holy

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out from suffering and reliance on God. But what Satan didn't realize is that Jesus didn't want power, Jesus wanted people. We'd find in the Bible that Jesus falls on his face before the Father too. And I only found it one time in Scripture. It's that same word Pipto in Matthew 26, and it is the night before Jesus is crucified. Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Hesaneme. And he said to them, Sit here while I go over there and pray. He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Going a little further, he fell on his face to the ground and prayed, My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. Jesus could have taken the easy path, but Jesus didn't want easy. He wanted holy. And as moms, it can be really tempting. The world tempts us to take the easy. But God wants us to be holy. He wants us to look different. Father God did not leave Jesus on the floor either. In fact, we are told God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. But what would have happened if He had chosen something different?

Everyday Invitations To Grace

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Jesus wants us to lay ourselves down so he can raise us to life again and again in the everyday things. He wants to give us peace when we're disciplining, patience with our husbands, wisdom with other moms. He wants to see dead marriages start to breathe again. He wants to free us from our fears. He wants to guide us in our parenting. He wants to help us change the diaper and do the homework and wash the dishes and be kind to our neighbor. Do a little self-reflection this week. Maybe for you it's homework too. Maybe it's discussions with your husband. I don't know. I don't know what the little thing is, but start to try to pay attention to the little things in your life. And imagine your spirit falling down on its face and just saying, I need you right now, in this exact moment. I need you right now. And I trust the Holy Spirit is going to meet you there, just like he met me. These days feel long because it takes time for you to be the mom I called you to be. The days feel long because it takes time to understand God's love for us. You can't rush the love of God. And I'm so glad that we don't have to rush the love of God. I am so thankful he gives me time with my children and he gives me another day on this earth. In Ecclesiastes 3.1, it says there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. This is our season. This is what God has chosen for me today. I'm going to squeeze every opportunity out of every second to love more like Jesus and to look more like Jesus and to live more like Jesus in my house and in my everyday life. And what a miracle it is, truly, that we have a God who actually wants to spend the days with us. The creator of the universe wants to spend these long days with me. What a blessing that we are given these days. Because as you know how the saying goes, the days do feel long. But man, the years are short, aren't they? I just got back from visiting my oldest kid at college. So I feel that.

Share, Connect, And Stay Tuned

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If you have a friend that God put on your heart while you were listening to this, share it with them. Be that encouraging friend and send it. It's so easy to do. I would love to hear from you if you want to email me my email address, hello at Jenna MarieMasters.com, and I will get back to you as soon as I

Time, Seasons, And A Grateful Heart

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can. We'll be having a holiday giveaway in the next couple weeks, so stay tuned for that. I'm praying for you, and I'm praying that the Holy Spirit meets you in a super tangible, real way this week. Don't forget to follow, save and share, and subscribe. You're awesome. Give it up for our mommy! Love it.