It has been a crazy summer. First, went and played Army to
become a branch qualified Army Engineer Officer; secondly, Jesus began a work in me
that has shook my world upside down. I normally prefer to wander in this world,
not inside my own wandering heart, but I’m afraid that Jesus has different
plans. This summer it is very clear that I am indeed a new creation in His
eyes.
It all starts where I used to seek validation, seeking
affirmation through people and their opinions. Nowhere did I involve God and
His thoughts about me. How quickly I am to discount Him! Oh how amazing are His
thoughts concerning me… Psalm 139 (NLT)
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me...
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head...
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
and know everything about me...
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head...
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it...
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it...
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!...
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
They cannot be numbered!...
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
There are two themes that keep rising from the cracks in the
foundation that I built where Jesus is jack hammering, and is He doing work!
1-
I rely on busyness to keep me preoccupied that I
don’t have time to process anything. The notable phrase, “I’ll get to that
later once I’m down with [insert busyness tasks here].” But what that actually
does is prevent “me time,” and that time is VERY important for everyone. If we
refuse to have “me time” then we are performing an injustice to the world. We
have too many souls molding to the world; what the world needs are more souls
who are thinking less, feeling more, choosing to trust their gut and overcome
the fear of the unknown. Don’t be afraid to trust an unknown future with a
known God.
This, too, I am guilty of. I have let my busyness take over connecting
with myself daily, no longer in-touch with who I am. I know what I don’t want to
be and that has been my guiding light for so long. But now…now there is this
new Light, so bright, that it lures me as if I were a baby sea turtle rising
out of the sand trying to make my way to the ocean for the first time.
Ocean...that has been a keyword this summer – it rises from the quote, “I crave
a love so deep the ocean would be jealous.” Again, the Big Man has made it
clear that it is time to rebuild a relationship with myself. How can someone who is wandering rebuild a
bond? Why, that would mean I would have to sit in the mess, actively
participating. Insert panic. You mean I have to be present through this entire
ordeal?! Crazy talk, right?! But I am curious how I'll be guided to walk through the rebuilding stages, to sit at His feet, to
keenly participate with open ears and a receptive heart.
2-
The mental game; I am my own worst enemy. The
enemy has preyed on my old definition of what success means. That definition is
warped, boggles me down with comparison, making me anxious for things that are
not meant for me. What is meant for me? What is His desire for me?
His desire, I feel, is asking me
to step up in life to invite change, an internal adjustment.
This change first starts with justifying who validates me. There is only
One who validates me, whose wisdom I need to seek, thirsting for His Light; He is my good
Shepherd who never leaves but always guides. Oh how He guides with receptive
ears, hearing every beat of my heart, knowing what causes me joy, peace,
happiness.
Change is
always in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes it’s abrupt; sometimes it’s
sluggish and drawn-out. But change is change and it requires a response, a
choice. My choice in the invitation from Jesus is simply, “Yes.” I cannot say what it will look like because that would be me falsely changing into a
new-being that I molded, making the process purposeless. There is only one Sculptor, who I have taken the
carving tool from, and who I am gladly (somewhat hesitantly if I’m honest)
giving the carving tool back and saying, “Lord, I have been trying to occupy too much space at once, looking for short-circuit vacancies, continuing to
feed my busyness to avoid You; but here I am, slowly (painfully) loosening my grip on attempting to control outcomes.”
I will be the first one to say that I won’t get all the
answers correct in this new adventure with JC.
I do know that it is scary to look inside the dark crevices, naming the
inner demons and fears, and truly owning the way I feel and the way I
behave. But the fear, anxiety that rises
up, will be eradicated by my Prince of Peace.
Questions I need to ask myself
daily:
What
validates me as a person?
Rebuilding
a relationship with the true me looks like what? Will I let her emerge or
suppress?
What
makes me happy? Laugh? Smile?
As I continue to invest in my inner relationship, I ask that
you do the same. Sit down with yourself daily, if only for a few minutes, and
take time to hear you. Ask yourself what you want, what you really, really
want. The fact is that you deserve to be happy; no one has the same
happiness formula. Take time to find yours and enjoy the process.
Not all who wander are lost.
Much love,
Whit