Quiet Thoughts
So I have been thinking a lot about those things that bring peace and have been pondering on the act of sitting at the feet of Jesus. I think one of the most valuable things I have learned in my Christian walk is that Jesus does not need me to do anything in order to accomplish what he wants accomplished. More than anything he wants me to come sit at his feet and just BE. He wants me to BE in such a way that I am not bringing my agenda or my must does or haves with me. He speaks to me best and moves my heart in amazing ways when I come even with my broken humaness just to be in his presence. I am finding that it is an incredible thing to have him pour out his loving mercy and grace over me and doing so he mends my broken places in such a way that I can sing his praises and adoration to the world. What that means to me is that he refills my overwhelmed heart in such a way that those things that normally send me over the edge of anxiety are now things that can be tackled and managed because of my knowlege of whose strength I am filled with. When I go to him and sit at his feet on a regular basis he fills me up to the top with grace to deal with things I would never be able to handle, mercy to give to people who normally would tick me off and wisdom and insight into situations that I would usually be very narrow minded about.
I haven’t been sitting at his feet much over the last several months and I am hungering deeply to do so. I am just a week away from Christmas and the celebration of the birth of my Savior and I want to dance and sing his praises more than anything this year.
The other thing that dawned on my while walking the butte with my friend is that a spiritual desert is a very special place to be. I have always abhored going through a spiritually dry time. I have found it depressing and scary to be honest. Well, my outlook on it has been changed. Here’s what I think. The desert is talked a lot about in the Bible. It has been a huge instrument of challenge and change from the beginning. I think of the Israelites wandering in the desert with Moses. Is it Elija or Elisha that ran into the desert when a queen wanted to kill him? John the Baptist lived in the desert and finally there is Jesus who went into the desert to be tested for 40 days. I think that God uses the desert in our spiritual lives to meet us. He uses it to minister to us and to help us heal and move forward. He uses it to expand our faith and help us understand that knowing him is more than just feelings and emotions.
When I go through deserts in my spiritual life, I have found that God meets me when I am desperate in ways that are so intimate and tender. He feeds my soul and quenches my thirst in some of the most unexpected ways.
If you think of it, go and read about how God met the needs of the Israelites as they wandered through the desert. Be sure and look at how much and what he gave them to keep them alive. Ask yourself what he was doing when he didn’t give them more. After that, go look up what God said to Elija/Elish(sorry can never keep them straight) and what God did to keep him alive. What was God’s point? Finally, look at Jesus when wandered in the desert. What happened to him there? What did he accomplish and who met him there? At the end of his wandering what happened to him and how do you think it might have grown his faith and love for his Father?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
If I don’t get to blog before Christmas, may you be blessed beyond measure by His grace, mercy and love. May you find deep peace in the presence of the Savior.
