She has the intelligence of 10,000 women and the patience of 1,000 grandmas.  She cooks with astounding foresight, never repeating a recipe and cleans faster than a fully-charged Roomba.  Her hair shines like a mountain stream and her children are über on-trend.  She designs with the effortless touch of Joanna Gaines and does it all with a sparkling smile, protein smoothie in hand. Her time is spent perfectly doing perfect things in perfect ways.

Say hello to “Super Mom”.  You look at her, wondering if she was birthed among a super race of super people with a super-enriched gene pool on a super faraway planet.  You admire her because she seems to epitomize all that you long to be.

But Super Mom’s up against “SuperNATURAL Mom”.  And word is, they’re meeting head-to-head in the ultimate battle…right in your home.

The Ultimate Battle

Super Mom and Supernatural Mom make my heart battleground zero on a regular basis.  They struggle for control within me. In fact, when God allows challenges into our home, there are days it feels like a straight-up cage match.  Things can get pretty ugly.  When that happens, the question I have to ask myself is, “Who will win?”  Let’s look at our contenders.

Contender 1: Super Mom

Super Mom arrives to the match with accomplishments, posturing, perfectionism and poise (plus a fresh loaf of banana bread).  She’s over-committed, hates a disrupted agenda,  and strives to maintain her Super Mom image at any cost, snapping photos to share along the way.  All her efforts are towards achieving the super life.  Super Mom’s got it all together…right?

Contender 2: Supernatural Mom

In the distance, Supernatural Mom approaches the ring.  She’s sporting a worn-out tank and yesterday’s grubby jeans over unshaven legs.  Her hair’s pulled back with a rubber band she found in the bathtub. She’s sans deodorant and her clearance-section flipflop just broke.  Supernatural Mom has a kid clinging to her leg and a teenager asking for the keys to the 1997 minivan.  She uses one hand to eat a cold chicken nugget and the other to grab the ropes to the ring.

Supernatural mom has no pretenses, but her discernment tells her two things: (1) this cold chicken nugget ain’t half bad, and (2) Super Mom may look good, but deep down, her and I are both weak.  Only one thing will determine who wins:  the weapons.

The Battle Weapons

Super Mom always brings the same weapons to the battle: her striving, image, and pride.  She also brings her favorite weapon:  a two-sided mirror.  As she holds the mirror up, she admires how equipped she is. “Dang, I look good!” she says. With the other side of the mirror, she shows Supernatural woman how ill-equipped she is.  “How on earth does she expect to win when she doesn’t have it together like me?” she wonders.

Supernatural Mom looks at her reflection.  Yeah, not much to look at.  Supernatural Mom may not have the fancy get-up, but she’s got the ultimate secret weapon, a set of weapons truly not-of-this-world.  They are powerful enough for any challenge ahead and will certainly bring victory against…

The hidden contender

As a young girl, I’d watch those cheesy wrestling matches with my brothers and sometimes they’d throw in a secret third contender to shake things up. Maybe, until now, you thought Super Mom and Supernatural Mom were going to duke it out. In reality, these “alter egos” are actually seeking to win YOU, and your heart.  The reason? YOU, mama, are actually battling the “hidden contender”.

The hidden contender is the enemy.  He’s permitted by God to battle you.  And when the enemy starts to pile on guilt, shame, stress, or anxiety, the enemy hopes you’ll choose the contender with the wrong weapons.  See, when the enemy attacks, Super Mom cranks it up but her posturing breaks down.  Her striving gets exhausting.  Her image cracks and her plans fall to pieces.  She may look the part, but her weapons are utterly useless in battle.  As soon as Super Mom enters the ring on your behalf, you’re already defeated. As she’s consumed with picking up the pieces of her shattered, self-made life, the enemy strikes his blow.  An easy win.

But if you send in Supernatural Mom, the game changes.  “Now HERE’S a real contender!” mocks the enemy as he looks at the weak woman before him.  What he doesn’t realize is that your secret weapon lies in your name.

Supernatural Mom’s supernatural weapons

As the enemy laughs, you choose Supernatural Mom.  She lays out her weapons one by one.  The enemy begins spewing lies, but she combats them with the supernatural power of God’s Word.  He tempts her to face life all alone, in her own strength.  So she prays and becomes filled with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to do what she could only do with God.  And as the enemy tempts her to lash out, the love of Christ becomes her supernatural weapon to defeat hostility, bitterness, anger, and hate.  It pumps vigorously through her heart with the knowledge that Christ’s love for her demands that she love others in word and deed.

On her own, she’s just an imperfect mom facing a tough life.  But with God, she’s Supernatural Mom, complete with powers to face any challenge and claim victory for herself, her family, and her marriage.  Her weapons win her the battle and the enemy flees.

Who will fight on your behalf?

Deep down, none of us are impressive before God, but some of us strive so hard for the Super Mom front, don’t we?  At times, I do.  Both are reflections of moms throughout the Body of Christ.  Maybe today, you’re facing challenges and the enemy is taunting you to battle.  You have a choice to make.  Both moms are weak, but only one has weapons that will win.  Only one has the victory before she’s even entered the match.

And in the kingdom, your contender of choice will ultimately communicate to other moms about the power Christ.  One’s life says, “Christ is weak, I am powerful.” and the other says, “I am weak, Christ is powerful.” One will face defeat and the other will be used by God to throw the enemy completely out of the ring.  Which will you choose today?