Resting in Him

I feel very blessed to have had such a restful time away.

Although we have had some busy and hectic times around here - 

My God knew I needed some peaceful time of refreshment in Him.

Because it is only in Him that we can truly find rest.

REAL rest.

The kind of rest that heals, restores, and strengthens us for another day.

So there I sat looking at this wonderful creation of His

and I was actually able to steal away a few HOURS...

yes, you heard me right HOURS...

with Him.

Only Him.

My Comforter.

My Healer.

Oh, what a precious time it was!

It was during this time that He began to speak to me

He showed me some deeper truths in Him - 

some precious moments with my Savior!

~~~~~~~

It was so calm and peaceful.  Psalm 23 came to my mind...

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

I sat pondering this wonderful psalm and I began to think of it in another light.

Still waters...

what did that mean?

The amplified Bible expand "still" to mean still and restful.

Whew!  I know being "still" makes me feel rested.

But...

then He began speaking to my heart and showing me the difference

between still...

and stagnant.

Flowing water brings health, healing, life!

Stagnant water - water with no movement - brings disease, sickness, and death!

 

Could it be that it is the same with our faith?

That somehow the MOVEMENT of our faith put into action

is what keeps our spiritual heart healthy?

That we we "rest on our laurels" so-to-speak

and become lazy in our spiritual state - 

that we can become stagnant too....

A breeding ground for all things unhealthy...

gossip...

jealousy...

lustful...

discontent...

Could it be that "resting in Him" is actually a state of MOTION???

That those "still waters" that He leads us to actually move us?

That just as the physical wind impacts on the waters to keep them moving

so must the wind of His Spirit sweep through our lives.

His Spirit is always flowing

all we need to do is submit and let ourselves be moved by Him.

So He showed me those "still waters" are full of energy -

restful energy - 

but one that brings life, peace, and healing.

 Let Your Spirit flow through me!

I will never long for "still-ness" the same way again.

  

Piles!

Okay...I have a confession...

I have piles...EVERYWHERE!

Now, I know I am the only one out there

so y'all can just pray for me.  *smile*

For any of you who are with me in the pile-ness

join me in looking at them a bit differently.

 I know I am busy-

we are all "busy"-

and this crazy world that we live in 

here in America seems to come with tons of piles!

(you know I can't imagine other countries dealing with the "stuff" we deal with)

Running a house has piles of papers that come with it...

bills...

caring for children...

medical papers...

caring for foster children...

work papers....

homeschooling papers...

It just keeps piling up.

Most of the time we don't even know it is happening 

until it is out of control.  

Overwhelming.

Distracting.

SO-

as our school year begins to wind down

and as I started to try and get up the nerve to deal with my piles-

GOD SHOWED UP IN THOSE PILES!

What?  You say... there is nothing Godly about clutter.

and yes, I agree...

but it was here in my chaos that He spoke softly to my heart.

You see many times we let our heart get cluttered.

It happens very slowly

little distractions

grow into bigger distractions...

Until we find ourselves buried under activities and busy-ness

and we find ourselves doing more in our life

for ourselves, our homes, our entertainment...

and doing nothing for His kingdom.

 So here I am looking at my physical clutter

and He is showing me my spiritual clutter.

Time to clean house!

(yes, both physically and spiritually)

And just like the piles of papers and books and receipts,

it will take time to work my way through the clutter in my spirit...

I want to see Him more clearly...

 I want to see His heart

for the lost and dying...

the hungry and poor...

the lonely and hurting...

I want to see, Lord!

And I know to see with Your eyes 

I have to de-clutter mine...

Join me on my journey closer to His heart!