Maybe a lot of y’all have been feeling a little down like I have. These are hard days. My friend who is a therapist told me recently to practice savoring. To pause over anything lovely or fragrant or noteworthy or intriguing or mysterious -anything at all- & find some joy in it.
Want to say 1 simple truth to you today. Your God who loves you will be faithful to you. Give it time. Know He is ever working.
In the blur, you are seen.
In the silence, you are heard.
In the upheaval, you are held.
In the frightening unknown, you are fully, securely known.
Listen, God knows what He’s doing. And that includes what He’s doing with you. We may have no earthly idea what’s up but, whatever it is, it will be right, it will be good, it will be true and it will be meaningful. Trust God in the dark and He will always turn back on the light.
I don't know that a life should be considered wasted solely based on what we do. Rather, I've wondered if it is more about what/who we dwell on. We can do "great" things focused on our self, bitter, angry, without thanksgiving, etc. Or we can do all things to the glory of God.
The Lord WILL be faithful to you. He will. He is not idle. He is working in ways you cannot see, doing things you cannot do. Surrender control of it to Him. He’s letting others fail to live up to their press so you will know the only One who is every single thing He claims to be.
Here’s the beautiful thing about it & I mean this with absolute respect. You don’t have to let me serve you. That gets to be your choice. Whether or not I serve Jesus is not up to you. Whether I serve you certainly is. One way or the other, I esteem you as my sibling in Christ.
I did not surrender to a calling of man when I was 18 years old. I surrendered to a calling of God. It never occurs to me for a second to not fulfill it. I will follow Jesus - and Jesus alone - all the way home. And I will see His beautiful face and proclaim, Worthy is the Lamb!
Sometimes I have to say to myself, “You’re all right. Life hasn’t killed you yet. God’ll let you know when it has. Quit whining and keep walking.” Just in case you needed to join me in a little “get over yourself.”
2. Confidence. Is your Father not King of heaven & earth? Has Jesus not promised to be with you? Has He not given you His Word & His Spirit to direct you? Has He not promised to take care of you? Is anything too hard for Him?
Quiet now. Be confident in God. Your answer’s coming.
God’s words to Israel in Isaiah 30:15 convict me so often in my own tailspin: “The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said: You will be delivered by returning and resting; your strength will lie in quiet confidence. But you are not willing.”
1. Quiet. Just sit down & hush.
I think it’s really important for us to remind one another that people mostly post their greatnesses on the socials. Real life is not consistently great. Fact is, we are all going to stink it up at times. Maybe the bigger win is the willingness to try again.
Greatness isn’t the only win. You can also thank God if your marriage is pretty good. Or it’s gone from awful to livable. Great parenting’s hard to keep up. But you can try to be a dang good one. A good teacher’s good. A good book’s good. Take a break from pressure to be great.
Jesus has not brought you all this way to drop you. He will not leave you aimless or answerless. He knows what he’s doing. He knows where he’s taking you. You will have what you need when you need it. Not when you want it perhaps. But when you need it. This test is about trust.