I know exactly what it’s like.
You’ve had that kind of day (or week or month or year…) that has just sucked the Jesus right out of you. Maybe you are surrounded by people who talk the talk, but it all still feels empty. Maybe there are expectations heaped on your back that should never have been there. Going through the motions of life and faith is exhausting. It’s drying for your soul.
I didn’t know how spiritually dry I was until I left and had time and space to look back. I compared. Life on this side is vibrant. Challenging. Exciting. Not easy-- but filled with hope. Life in the valley was desperate. Filled with worry. Never enough.
Now that I know, I’m protective. At least I think I am. I want to preserve this life in my soul. I will not let my faith become something hollow again. I will not go through the motions. I will not let the agendas of others slowly drain away my peace and joy. I will follow Jesus.
I will not sway with the desires of the crowd. I will fix my eyes on my Savior and keep walking. I will lean in to His grace. I will ignore the whispers that I do not belong, that I am not enough. I will shut out the lies and turn to the Truth.
As I begin this Holy Week, I want to be the one crazy person who keeps carrying the palm branch, long after the celebration is over. Waiting, watching, expecting the King to reign and rule in me.
You’ve had that kind of day (or week or month or year…) that has just sucked the Jesus right out of you. Maybe you are surrounded by people who talk the talk, but it all still feels empty. Maybe there are expectations heaped on your back that should never have been there. Going through the motions of life and faith is exhausting. It’s drying for your soul.
I didn’t know how spiritually dry I was until I left and had time and space to look back. I compared. Life on this side is vibrant. Challenging. Exciting. Not easy-- but filled with hope. Life in the valley was desperate. Filled with worry. Never enough.
Now that I know, I’m protective. At least I think I am. I want to preserve this life in my soul. I will not let my faith become something hollow again. I will not go through the motions. I will not let the agendas of others slowly drain away my peace and joy. I will follow Jesus.
I will not sway with the desires of the crowd. I will fix my eyes on my Savior and keep walking. I will lean in to His grace. I will ignore the whispers that I do not belong, that I am not enough. I will shut out the lies and turn to the Truth.
As I begin this Holy Week, I want to be the one crazy person who keeps carrying the palm branch, long after the celebration is over. Waiting, watching, expecting the King to reign and rule in me.
Psalm 63
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.
But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.
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