Sunday, July 20, 2008

stargazing

I've been so busy trying to survive the days... weeks... that blogging has been the furthest thing from my mind. Until this morning in church, when the sermon so loudly echoed a conversation Jake and I shared a short time earlier... over coffee... in bed. Life seems really hard these days. Having more medical issues looming, for both of us, and the stress getting time off work (despite very gracious employers - it's our work ethic that causes us the stress), the stress of potential complications - (been there... done that...), fatigue, depression, - the list can go on, but you get the picture, life is feeling hard. Balancing the "negative" we can't help but notice that somehow we've managed to get through the days, navigate the trials, the Lord has shown us favor (Jake and I both received promotions in our jobs in the same week), and that even though it almost always feels as if the bottom is just about to drop out, it hasn't. And I no longer add to the end of that statement "...yet". God's faithfulness builds an expectation of His continued faithfulness.

I am finally fighting my way out of a season of extreme dryness in my quiet time... and a discerning reader will suspect in that a LACK of quiet time... But somehow I feel the Lord has ordained this. I've gained a new perspective. I've watched the Lord, through this season, peel away yet another layer of the legalism I brought with me to salvation - the layer that believed that if people really wanted to spend time with the Lord, they could. If they really wanted to spend time in the Word, they would. If they wanted to call themselves Christian, then they really should. I'm not trying to say that there is no truth in this, - but I'm saying I now understand the difficult place of the young mom chasing toddlers, the single mom balancing work, parenting and school, and those of us working long hours and struggling. Yet at the same time, the Lord is drawing me... with a question. For years I had the luxury of basking for hours daily in the Word - time was cheap. For the past 6 months the Lord has been asking me what He's worth to me now - - now that it is hard - now that it is costly - now that it is sacrificial to seek Him. It is no longer easy, but He is ever so much more precious to me. I've had experiences of His grace that just aren't there when life is less of a struggle. I've literally been carried by Him through a day's work when pain from various "attempts at athleticism" have nearly crippled me. When the night's sleep was lost (due to living in close proximity to people who need a lot less sleep than me) and fatigue was heavy, the Lord lifted me up. All during the time when I wasn't meeting my "quota" of intercessory prayer time, or study of the Word... imagine that. I don't deny the sin of prayerlessness, but I stand on the promise of forgiveness, which causes my heart to swell with praises of my Saviour. I am being kept by grace. Not because I'm doing all the right things, but because of God's mercy, which has embraced the humanity with which He created me, and created a way for me to remain steadfast - even when my mind is wavering and my heart is weary. Hallelujah!

1 comment:

Yvonne's corner said...

oh my goodness this is so well written!!!! You know I think you better save all these an write a book! Very insightful and inspirational!!!