Hold On!
I’m going to be real honest with you for a moment, today was hard. I was struggling. If I was in a comic strip, there would be an empty bubble where the words should be. It also feels like one of those days when real pants seem like a lot. You know when you just want to keep your comfy ones on? I didn’t feel like I had it in me to create something.
Do you remember that merry-go-round at the park with the bars that you could hold onto to either try to fling your friends off by running as fast as you can or hold onto them for dear life so you are not thrown off by that said person.
Yep. That’s how I feel but I’m the one holding on for dear life and my legs are flying behind as they dangle off that death machine in a very undignified way.
I would like to invite you to join me in taking a minute to stop. Now breathe. A few deep breaths. Relax your shoulders - get them out of your ears - maybe roll them around a bit.
I don’t know about you, but I needed that.
When I was having my Quiet Time this morning and asked - more like whined - about what to write to you, I felt God say to be honest, breathe and be with Me. I know that was for me in that moment but I thought we could lean into that together…
Be Honest!
I was very honest with God about where I was and God meet me and gave me direction.
God cannot meet us where we are if we don’t know where we are or how we’re doing because we’ve been too busy to stop to think about it. OR maybe you’re staying very busy because you don’t want to deal with where you really are in any given area of your life. It could be one, three or all areas.
We can’t just be a plate of spaghetti with all the noodles of our life all mixed up and we have no idea where to begin defining how we’re feeling, but we know it’s just not good.
We also can’t be a waffle where everything is in it’s own little box and we’ve put it away and aren’t dealing with it.
In John 5:6 Jesus asked the man by the pool “Do you want to get well?” and in Matthew 20:32 and Mark 10:51-52 Jesus asks: “What do you want me to do for you?”
If we don’t know where we are at or what we need we cannot be healed, get direction, be loved on or a million other things God longs to do for us.
Breathe!
I find myself holding my breath a lot. I carry the tension in my shoulders. I have to be intentional about letting it go. When I am intentional about giving everyone and everything over to Jesus I can feel the rest come in. I remind myself to trust Him and it’s not all on me.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6&7 (italics mine)
Where would be your dream place to go and get away with Jesus to rest? It's probably the mountains for me and the ocean second but nature is a must!!!
We don’t think much about trust and rest being connected to humbling ourselves, but if were are too proud to ask for help or admit that we cannot do it all, we will never give God our burdens because we may not believe that He will do it “right” or that He really cares about us and all the things/people we care about.
Be with Me!
There are so many voices and people vying for our attention and affecton. I periodically go through my Insta and delete voices that are longer serving me in a new season. I may add new ones that are right for where I am now. BUT I also have reduced the number of voices who have access to me and can affect my life. AND I have become more dialed into being with God and hearing His voice. It has made a huge difference in how I am living my life and the gratefulness I have.
“… Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.
So they went by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.”
Mark 6:31b-32
We do not trip and fall into being with Jesus. We may need to find our “boat” that takes us to a quiet place so we can be with Jesus to learn from Him and become like Him!
My struggles can change daily or even sometimes in the same day. I mess up. I fail to trust. I am not intentional. Etc. Etc. Etc.
That’s when I am so grateful for His grace and wisdom!!!
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that God’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he that doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
James 1:5&6
So, hold on sweet child of the Living, Loving God. The whirling will stop. I hope you find time to be honest, breathe and be with Jesus this week.
I wanted to tell you that due to a family wedding at the beginning of October, my next blog will be a coming a little later. :)
All My Love~
Jodi xo
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