This morning we slept in, walked hand in hand down the sidewalk to a nearby coffee shop, settled into a cozy table by the window. He read for seminary; I journaled about… life. And well, while I longed to shut out the noise of this world to hear more clearly from my Father for guidance and direction on what this next season of my life should look like, as I looked across from me over our coffees to this great gift right in front of me, I was reminded that while it is great and important and worthwhile to have dreams and hopes and ambitions and goals, that our Father wants us to also rest, to enjoy his good gifts, to sit, to look around, to appreciate the wonder in every day.
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And so, while I’m not 100% certain what this next season will look like fore, I know one thing for sure—that I want to find a balance, strive for that sweet spot between running fast toward bringing God’s Kingdom to this earth and simply resting in the gift that is our short life here.
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Because it’s not about performance, but grace. It’s not about striving, but allowing God to work through us as His Spirit moves within us. It’s not about constantly worrying about what tomorrow will bring, but rather basking in the glory that is right in front of us today.
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This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. And from that place of gratitude I will ask Him to lead me, to guide me, to show me His way, His path, His life to the full. And then I will remember to rest. To simply live in appreciation for all HE has done. And know with peace that it’s not about what I do.
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For He cares more about who I am than what I do. He cares more about my heart than what my hands do.
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Friends and family and those who I’ve never met, where is your heart today? Are you striving? Are you searching? May you strive to see Jesus’ face and may you search to hear His voice always; and yet would you remember—like I am trying to remember myself—that even when it feels like we can’t hear Him, that even when it feels like we are wandering through a desert for 40 years, that even when it seems like we are struggling to make sense of the very purpose of all of this—this life—that He love is abundantly, so much so that the Father would sacrifice His Son for you, for me, for all of it—this life.
If He loves us that much {and He does}, then we can be certain He is always with us, that His every Word is true, that He will never leave us or forsake us, that He holds our right hand no matter our feet may travel.
I pray we would all rest in this truth. Today. In whatever season we are in, are coming out of, or are traveling into.
Happy Saturday!
Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever. {Psalm 73:23-26}There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. {Hebrew 4:9-11}
