Friday, March 21, 2014

What do I do now?

God has me in a season of rest. But it hasn't been easy. More often than I'd like to admit, I've felt more restless than restful. Most days there is a pleading question on my lips and in my heart, "Hello, God, did you forget I exist?" Over the past decade, I went from a woman who got up every day and faithfully put on my garment of shame and regret, to a woman scandalously set free by the love of my amazing Savior, to a woman who had the immense joy and privilege of serving alongside a team of sisters in Christ in ministry for 5 years, to a woman who ... what is it I do now?

And that's the crux of the matter. What do I "do" now? In a season of rest, one should be happy to rest, right? Yet in a culture of "do this" and "do that" and "do more" and always "do, do, do SOMETHING," we feel insignificant, unimportant, overlooked, and even useless unless we are doing something. Oh, and of course that "something" must be significant in our own estimation or we still feel as though we're failing God, or others, or ourselves, or all of the above.

In our world, we long to be included, important, and intimately cared for by someone who truly loves us. No one wants to be ignored, insignificant...put out to pasture.

In God's world, we are included, important, and intimately cared for by Someone who truly loves us. We are never ignored, insignificant, and when we are put out to pasture, it's a good thing not a bad thing! It's a place of rest. Not a place of abandonment.

I'm still learning this. I'm talking to me! And maybe, just maybe, God is talking to you today as well.

God is quite content to put us in seasons where there appears to be no forward movement, where life comes to a screeching halt. It's here where we learn that we're not what we do; we're simply someone he enjoys. - Susie Larson

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.


Father, teach me to thoroughly enjoy you; as much as you thoroughly enjoy me.