November 5, 2017
Wow… these last weeks of my life have been crazy, good, hard, stressful, interesting, and difficult all wrapped up in one big bundle of whirlwind busyness. A lot of words can describe what they have been, but one nails the head of it all: rough. Just plain rough. It’s like that feeling that most of you have probably experienced when everything is going by crazy fast, and you are just in survival mode. You are just surviving and trying your very best to somewhat thrive; it’s like a constant game of catch up. I have found myself struggling and sometimes failing to be more proactive than reactive. These past couple of weeks have left me doubting several things I take pride in including school and relationships. All while hardships have been thrown at me, there has been a lot of moments the Lord has blessed me with. I am not simply discrediting these at all, but isn’t if hard to focus on the good when life gets really rough? However, through it all, the Lord has taught me more than anything that He is my source of peace and my strength. The Lord, in his infinite mercy, has called me back to His heart, back to my own heart when my mind and the world has begged to take over. My mind and the lies the world feeds it constantly battle my heart for my belief and source of self-worth. But that evil does not win. The Lord guards my heart. When evil kicks and screams for my attention, the Lord reveals Himself. He shows up and faithfully reminds me of His boundless love for me. However, the Lord can only do as much work in my life, and yours, as we allow Him. It is a daily choice to surrender to His glory and His will opposed to living for ourselves. It’s either my stubborn, weak self against the entire world, or I can chose to “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you He will not fail you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:16). The Lord reveals Himself in many, many ways; however, for me, I found rest in Him in quiet times. While I don’t create near as much time for it as I should, I find the most value and impact when journalling my prayers. It provides a peace and relief like no other. Somedays, it only takes a few words to make me start crying tears of relief from the burden He consistently lifts off my shoulders. Other days, it may be a quick prayer that still allows me time to invite Jesus into my life that day. All of this goes to say that my prayer for each of you is that you would find where you receive the most rest and love from God. Maybe for some it is worship music or others it is a run to clear the mind and talk with God. Whatever it takes, God longs for our attention and praise. He is there fighting for us and our hearts constantly. May His promise of love and eternal life become our anthem, and may He become our refuge and our souls’ source of renewal and strength!
With love,
C