Superwoman on the other hand – well
ladies, we all know that she is out there! We also know that it is
our job to be just like her!
There is even a name for this:
Superwoman Syndrome – “an expectation that she can and should do
everything.”
You know the list – job, wife,
mother, daughter, friend, volunteer in community, volunteer in
church…the list is endless. All good things… all worthy things…so
of course we should excel at them … all of them… all at
once…because even scripture says “I can do all things…”
Is that verse in Philippians really
about accomplishments? I know that we pull it out to cheer ourselves
and others on…to get through the rough patches…and there is truth
in that.
I think that I may have at times
twisted the truth of this verse and put the emphasis on the “I can
do” phrase. “I can do” leads to “I must do” and when I fall
short the phrase becomes the accusation “I should do”.
Before long my life resembles the
hamster running on his wheel. Busy, busy, busy but not really getting
anywhere.
If we look back a few verses in this
chapter in Philippians 4, Paul talks about contentment. Sometimes I
fear that we equate contentment with lack of ambition or lack of
desire to move forward. It’s not the same thing. In failing to
learn contentment we are robbed of peace as we strive to do more than
to be…
It’s not that there aren’t jobs to
do, tasks to accomplish, character to grow. There are! There are also
things in each of us to be changed as we are made into the image of
God’s Son…but do we forget that He is the one to accomplish this?
( Phil.1:6)
To learn contentment in all
circumstances seems to me to be the opposite of Superwoman Syndrome.
The link between contentment and “doing
all things” is more about allowing God to work than about me
accomplishing.
So, let’s agree and encourage one
another to take off those superwoman capes and revel in the peace and
rest that contentment brings as we say "I can do everything through
Him who gives me strength." (Phil.4:13)
Ruth
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