It's Not A "Witching Hour", Christian Mom!
It’s 4:00 PM. Your normally calm baby, or toddler, or 1st grader suddenly begins to get fussy. The newborn is crying and nothing you do seems to console your infant. Or maybe it’s the older kids who start going at each other’s throats. You have to turn off the burner on the stove ten times to settle disputes and dinner ends up cold or overdone.
Every. Evening.
You have heard the term before. Many refer to it as “The Witching Hour”.
Even Christians often dread that time of day when order and peace fly out the window and all you can do is pray that they go to bed early.
Recently, I did a little research on what the term “Witching Hour” really meant. I never liked the reference in the first place and now I know why. It’s traditionally a time when evil spirits, demons, and witches are said to be releasing their most power.
That did not settle well in the spirit of this mama who belongs to a Holy God who already has the victory over all things evil.
Moms, it’s not a “witching hour”. It’s a REFINING HOUR.
There are many logical reasons why our kids may get out of sorts by the end of the day-everything from blood sugar levels, to fatigue, to simple immaturity. And it’s a stage that many babies and even older kids go through. But it is not a time for us to attribute a difficult part of the day to Satan.
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. Romans 8:5-6
It’s a time to be personally refined and to train our children in Godliness.
If your afternoons seem long and challenging, then be active in your trust in the Lord to walk with you and your children through it. See it as an opportunity to grow in your own walk as you demonstrate the Fruit of the Spirit towards your family!
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
I’m always praying that God will strengthen me in my faith, make me more like Christ, and to help me be a Godly mom who models Christ to them. Well, guess what? That takes refinement. It means I have to practice my faith. As a mother of young children, these moments are the ones where God is shaping me and answering my prayers to make me a better mom.
The Refining Hour is the perfect time to draw strength from the Lord and to live out your faith.
Take the time to speak God’s Word into their hearts during those moments and begin to view it as a prime time to do what we as Christian moms see as our highest calling-a time to put our money where our mouth is and to demonstrate compassion.
Pray about it. Ask God to work in your life as you deal with complaints, or tears, or bickering. Pray over your children. Take each one individually and ask God for help and to work in their hearts too.
And let’s get rid of the “witching hour” mentality. Our homes are not a place where some evil spirit has control over our children. I hate the idea of even casually referencing that term in Christian homes. Our kids belong to our loving Savior who knows the number of hairs on their heads.
Choose to be refined today, mom. Go into any challenge with your kids as an opportunity to do good and to believe the best about them as God does towards us. Determine to trust God’s power in your life to influence the tone in your home and know that refining our hearts and the hearts of our sons and daughters is a deep and lasting blessing.
YOUR TURN! Will you begin to think of challenging moments at any time of day as “Refining Hours”?
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