Sunday, September 24, 2017

A Few Thoughts on Stillness

Quietness.

Stillness.

It's so hard to find in this fast-paced, busy world. Yet, it is for this our souls long. Often though we aren't even aware of the longing we have for stillness. We have become so used to distractions. Our phone constantly dinging notifications, telling us all the ways we are important and admired through the likes and shares of Facebook and Instagram, the retweets from Twitter. The rushing around of living life. Constantly hurrying to the next urgent activity. Never having an ending to any of this.

Often we are living up to the expectations of others, our culture, or even our own expectations, not the expectations of Jesus.The real question is, "What is Jesus asking of you?" Jesus knows we have 24 hours. He made them. He made us need time for sleep, need to eat, need to clean up. None of these are surprises to Him. He wouldn't ask us to do things that don't make sure we have time to do all we need to do to care for ourselves and those entrusted to us.

At a women's retreat I spoke at this past weekend I was reminded of the story in Luke 10:38-42. The story of Mary and Martha. It's a story well-known and told often. It's a great story to show how we are meant to be Human BEings, but we tend to live like we are Human DOings. And we think that's what Jesus wanted, for us to live up to all these expectations. However, in the Message version verse 41-42 reads, "The Master said,"Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it-it's the main course, and won't be taken from her.""

I heard it said recently at a Healing Care Ministries event, that Martha was making sandwiches that Jesus never ordered. This was such an Aha! moment for me. How often do I think, this is something I NEED to do? If I don't do it, how will this happen? When in reality, it's something that is an expectation, and something I think I'll be judged for if I don't do it. Martha was in a tough predicament, this gathering was at her house and the societal expectation was for her to make a meal for those gathered at her house. However, as we saw from the experience with the loaves and fishes in Matthew 14, He could feed the multitudes with very little. He didn't need Martha to make a meal, she just thought He did.

How do I know when it's time to Be and when it's time to Do? It's a great question. My experience has been that as I became more of a Human Being and I learned to just Be, the Lord told me when it was time to stand up and Do. Then I come back in His Presence once more, secure in who He has made me to Be and then once more, He will send me out to what He has for me. But I want to be so secure in who I am that I will only want to do what the Lord asks of me, no more and no less. I can only do that when I've taken time for stillness with Him.

I'll address some tips on how to be still in an upcoming post. If you have any questions or comments I'd love to hear them below. Let's keep this topic going. Until next time... Journey on!

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Awakening

This is my first post on this blog, which I am calling Awakening. Awakening is the word the Lord has had on my heart for years. I began a journey of healing in June of 2010 due to brokenness inside myself. One of the books I read was Waking the Dead by John Eldredge. The book was wonderful and every time I talked of it, I would gush over what it had done for me. For the longest time however, I couldn't remember the name. I knew what felt most true for me to the deepest part of my soul was the word Awakening. I would tell my friend that name, but then my mind would be triggered to the real title Waking the Dead.

The definition of Awakening according to Oxford Dictionary is: an act or moment of becoming suddenly aware of something. It made so much sense why this word felt so right for inside of myself there was an Awakening that began with my journey. I believe the Lord is calling each one of us into an Awakening and it is why I called both my ministry and this blog Awakening. As long as we are asleep or dead to what's going on around us, as long as we are unaware, we are stuck. We cannot change what we do not acknowledge.

On this journey, a part of my awakening was to become much more aware of my heart and my feelings. I'd always been taught that my emotions and my body were fickle and not to trust them. Therefore for years, I'd been shutting down my heart, feelings, and emotions. When I began to realize how much these feelings and emotions were actually a tool used by the Lord to help me live a life to the full, that's when my journey of healing began.

Emotions and feelings are like a smoke detector. I could just shut it off, but then what good would the smoke detector be? If the smoke detector is to be put to good use, then we are to look around and find what's causing the fire. There are times when the smoke detector is in need of repair. That's where things like good counseling or Inner Healing can be helpful, to help find out where the crossed wires are in this smoke detector that keeps going off without any smoke being present. And all of us need this help from time to time.

As you are possibly hoping to either begin or continue your own journey of Awakening, I invite you to follow this blog. I hope to post ideas and stories that may help you as you go along your journey. We all continue to grow on this journey called life and on this side of Heaven don't see the finished product, however we get to participate in continued healing in our lives. Join me won't you?