It’s just past
midnight, in the early hours of Valentines day. I’m in MY chair, in MY house,
with MY tiki torch outside; yet none of it is mine, not really. At any moment
God can say, “Daughter, that’s an idol. I’ll give it to someone else because my
good gifts I give you have replaced the good gift of me.” And in that moment,
He gives the good gifts of surety, trust, and faith, and my heart weeps for the
times I’ve traded down for myself, rather than up to be with Him.
The calm whirr of the
fan, the incessant chatter of the bugs, the thump of the moths on the
windows…it all becomes soothing to my weary soul.
Weary is a result of
self-sufficiency. I don’t need Jesus time. I don’t need to pray. Look at me, I
have it figured out. It’s at the end of stretching that you realize
self-sufficiency has no recoil. There’s nothing to pull you back to the
beginning because all you are has been dumped out and stretched far.
That’s the true JOY of
where Christ comes in. He brings Grace, Strength, Goodness, Overflowing riches.
The pendulum can’t make itself swing and continue, but a force greater than
within. You cannot sustain yourself, but must look to a force greater than you.
Christ in Me:
All I need,
Grace over-flowing,
Restores me.
Spontaneous nature,
Of His rich streaming
Love,
He opens my eyes
To His things above.
