I sit at Barnes and Noble after a hard day. I hadn't felt like myself all day long and it had been difficult. I wasn't sure why. So, I sat with my journal and my Bible open to Ephesians...listening as my sweet King Jesus whispered words of my promise to my weary heart.
Every now and again, I would look up from where I was sitting and scan the aisles. Mostly because I love people watching...and I do it without even realizing it sometimes. Yet, as I scanned the aisles, I began to see something deeper than just the people.
There are thousands of books in Barnes and Noble...at least. It is a very happy place for someone like me. You can find a book on anything. Health. Porcupines. The Pharaohs of Egypt. Underwater Basket Weaving. Literally, anything.
But there is one Book that is different from all the rest. It is living and breathing. It has a heart that beats for every single person that has ever set foot in the store...and then some. It beckons each person by name to come and be satisfied.
What Book?
The Word of God.
The Word of God spoken by the Word Himself spills words across pages that tell the story of redemption. It's a story that carries such weight and beauty. A story of the King who steps down from His throne to redeem a people that are His Own....but they don't recognize Him. Instead they condemn Him to death....a cruel death. So, He willingly lays down His life, continuing to weave the scarlet thread with His blood through the story He is telling.
Three days later, He rises. Flesh and blood, bearing scars of love eternally, He rises. Never to die again. Joy spills from His laugh, love like oceans pours from His heart, His eyes burn with a jealous fire as He wages war for our hearts.
This Word..this Book...is different. Through it, Jesus beckons you and I to come to Him and be satisfied. He asks us to come in order for Him to LAVISH His love on us.
Maybe He is asking you the same question of you that He asked me yesterday...
--> I long to lavish My love on you. Won't you let Me? Will you stop fretting long enough to hear Me speaking calm over the storm you think you're in? Only to find there wasn't a storm at all...you were just focusing on the waves instead of on My face. Find Me faithful here, Beloved. I haven't left. I haven't changed. I love you. Right here - I love you. <--
What are you waiting for? Go to Jesus. He loves you so.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Friday, July 18, 2014
Stuck Between Now and Not Yet
I am sitting on my lunch break as my fingers tip-tap across the keyboard this afternoon. There is worship music playing in my headphones and my heart is wide awake, eyes wide open to the thoughts scurrying about the season I am in.
Summer. Now.
I can honestly say that this summer has been one of the most difficult things I have ever subjected myself to willingly. Jesus has stretched me in ways that I was not anticipating and mostly, it has felt like really hard work. Why? Well, for the first time, I am dating someone and, for the summer, we are long distance. Ben (the boyfriend) is such a man of honor and man of God. He deals with my random freak outs so well and I am grateful for the grace he shows toward me.
But, even more than that, I am grateful for what Jesus is showing me here. It's hard, because I so badly want to find Him right here. Yet, my heart eagerly awaits the time when this season is over and things return to a more steady beat of normal.
Even in typing that, I have to smile and shake my head...yeah, right....normal. What I am learning now more than ever is that "normal" is not what I ever expected. Seasons of life, this one included, brings unexpected challenges and struggles. It is hard. So hard. And, it was not what I anticipated. At all.
BUT. (Don't you just love that word...) But, Jesus has been so steady through it all. The reality of the matter is that He knows me so much better than I know myself. If I were the one writing this story, I would've written it differently. I would have penciled in less struggle and made it easier. I would have plotted the storyline according to the lies culture has told me about romance and dating. I would have lost my way in the process.
Praise God, I am not the one writing the story. But I certainly know the One who is.
Jesus.
He only gives good gifts. He only leads sovereignly. He gives what we need. This King, sweet Jesus, has known me since before I existed. He knew about this season. He knew the struggle it would bring. And, He know that I would find Him faithful here. Right between the Now....and the Not Yet. Right here when He whispers: "Wait" to my longing heart yet again. Right here as He shows me that He is worthy of trust.
See, the point of this story is not for my (or your) comfort. It is for His glory. It is to be more like Him...transforming into His image...glory to glory.
Praise God. The King is faithful. Jesus will finish what He started.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Summer. Now.
I can honestly say that this summer has been one of the most difficult things I have ever subjected myself to willingly. Jesus has stretched me in ways that I was not anticipating and mostly, it has felt like really hard work. Why? Well, for the first time, I am dating someone and, for the summer, we are long distance. Ben (the boyfriend) is such a man of honor and man of God. He deals with my random freak outs so well and I am grateful for the grace he shows toward me.
But, even more than that, I am grateful for what Jesus is showing me here. It's hard, because I so badly want to find Him right here. Yet, my heart eagerly awaits the time when this season is over and things return to a more steady beat of normal.
Even in typing that, I have to smile and shake my head...yeah, right....normal. What I am learning now more than ever is that "normal" is not what I ever expected. Seasons of life, this one included, brings unexpected challenges and struggles. It is hard. So hard. And, it was not what I anticipated. At all.
BUT. (Don't you just love that word...) But, Jesus has been so steady through it all. The reality of the matter is that He knows me so much better than I know myself. If I were the one writing this story, I would've written it differently. I would have penciled in less struggle and made it easier. I would have plotted the storyline according to the lies culture has told me about romance and dating. I would have lost my way in the process.
Praise God, I am not the one writing the story. But I certainly know the One who is.
Jesus.
He only gives good gifts. He only leads sovereignly. He gives what we need. This King, sweet Jesus, has known me since before I existed. He knew about this season. He knew the struggle it would bring. And, He know that I would find Him faithful here. Right between the Now....and the Not Yet. Right here when He whispers: "Wait" to my longing heart yet again. Right here as He shows me that He is worthy of trust.
See, the point of this story is not for my (or your) comfort. It is for His glory. It is to be more like Him...transforming into His image...glory to glory.
Praise God. The King is faithful. Jesus will finish what He started.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
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