I am a girl who loves to sit with a cup of coffee and daydream. I am most passionate about Jesus, my family, and family ministry. My husband and I live in Oklahoma with our two precious daughters. I spend my days with my girls, discovering and growing alongside them! You can usually find us either in our sunroom, the park, or taking long walks through Target. :)
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalms 121:1-2
Day by day I look for help. I might look to the internet, to a friend, to my oils, to hot black coffee, or to my husband. Ah, but who is the giver of these wonderful gifts? The Lord, of course! Do I remember to look to him? Do I really trust him with the matters on my heart?
Declarations of Faithfulness
David did. The Psalms are bursting with declarations of faithfulness to God in his times of need.
“O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eye- it has gone from me.” – Psalms 38:9-10
It is encouraging to see how David brought the very depths and grit of his emotions to the Lord. Even through his times of doubt, fear, and sadness, he turned to God for strength and encouragement. Just a few verses later, we read:
“But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.” Psalm 38:15
We really can bring God everything.
He will help us! He wants to strengthen us and transform us. The Lord draws us to him through our longings. Ruth Chou Simons’ words in the last chapter of her book Beholding and Becoming really touched my heart.
“No amount of finding our place here on earth will satisfy the longing we have to find our place with Him. We can stop looking frantically to our past, our future, our left or right to feel fully at home- we won’t find it here on this dusty earth.”
Our needs can truly only be met by God alone.
Our problem though is that we want fulfillment on this earth. We strive after success, prime health, and material bounty like it can surly cure this inevitable need we have to feel complete. We starve ourselves of experiencing rest in God because we are so distracted by trying to solve our problems on our own. Only the God who created us and loves us can meet the needs that are anchored deep in our heart. The need to be filled, content, known, and loved. The need for purposeful and fruitful living.
“Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23
Oh, to be home with Christ our Lord.
Yes, that will fulfill our need for wholeness. That will make us complete. The great news is that we don’t have to go to him. He comes down to us! Having him reside in us will give us sure strength and offer us the help we need day in and day out. We just have to look to him.
Look to him, and behold his goodness and glory.
When you are burdened by the disappointments this side of Eden, or stressed from the little things, look to him.
When you are overwhelmed, depressed, anxious, insecure, or trapped, look to him.
When you’ve been wronged, look to him.
When you are facing illness, look to him.
When you are unsure of the future or restless with discontent, look to him.
When you are feeling void of direction and purpose, look to him.
Look to him in the majesty of nature or in the sweetness of his people.
Look to him in the gifts he’s given you.
Most importantly, look to him in scripture and in prayer.
Hope on Earth
Work in itself isn’t bad. God won’t take away our work. He doesn’t take away the realities of this earth, but he does give us fulfillment in a way that no earthly solution can.
He can fill our hearts with meaning and purpose. He can save our souls from selfishness and aimless pattering and give us hope for our eternity. Hope for what really matters on this world. He can take our life and make it good and pure despite the scars we bare. He can make us fruitful in our daily lives as well as in our legacy.
Our Best Through Him
Through the Holy Spirit, God has actually made his home in us, and our best help will come from him! As we look to him and behold who he is, we will become more and more like him through the work of his spirit.
It’s not our effort, but his grace that fills us and generously sustains us. Praise God!
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
Inspiration for this Post
This post was inspired after reading Ruth Chou Simon’s book, Beholding and Becoming. I encourage you to check out her book for yourself! The artwork is gorgeous, and her message offers great encouragement for those of us seeking to become more like Christ.
I am a girl who loves to sit with a cup of coffee and daydream. I am most passionate about Jesus, my family, and family ministry. My husband and I live in Oklahoma with our two precious daughters. I spend my days with my girls, discovering and growing alongside them! You can usually find us either in our sunroom, the park, or taking long walks through Target. :)
Clinging to our past is drenching, isn’t it? It keeps us from experiencing the fullness of the present.
Sometimes we just need to let go.
Perhaps it’s pride from past successes, insecurities that we’ve allowed to define us, pain from hurtful experiences, or crippling guilt from our mistakes.
Is there anything from your past that you need to let go of?
I’d like to share a little bit of my personal story with you, and why I am learning to let go of the guilt and shame from my past.
First, let’s consider the following scriptures.
“let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:22-23)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” (2 Corinthians 17-19a)
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)
There is beauty in the letting go of our past.
The source of this beauty is God and his love for us, his chosen and dearly loved children. In his great grace, he forgives our sins and offers us a life filled with hope and assurance in what truly matters.
He wants us to let go.
My girls and I often walk in our local arboretum. Recently we’ve been enjoying the changing leaves and crisp autumn air.
I believe it reflects God’s grace. He paints the trees such glorious colors as they prepare to let go of their leaves. They let go of their leaves in order to sustain themselves through the winter, and so that they will be able to produce new life. I’ve been pondering this and reflecting on my own story, particularly a chapter I haven’t been able to turn the page on.
During one of our evening walks, I watched my daughters giggle and play. I soaked in the sweet thoughts my five year old was sharing with me. I gave recognition to the value and blessings in this season of my life, and I knew it was time.
It was time to let go.
If I was going to flourish in the here and now then I needed to let go of the old parts of my story that left me feeling insignificant, stuck, and unfit for kingdom work. I wanted to embrace the new chapter God was writing.
The specifics of my guilt aren’t really that important. In our selfishness, we all give way to sin. We all have reason for guilt.
Dwelling on our past or how we thought life was supposed to be is a useless waste of energy. We can’t go back and do things differently. We can however, look to our past and see how God has worked in our life. We can remember lessons learned. We can consider where God’s brought us, and look for ways to bring him glory here, in our current circumstances.
We can’t grow in the past, but if we let go of what’s holding us there we can grow in the present.
It’s easier said than done. Letting go of guilt is especially difficult when we are living in the consequences of our sin.
There may be other people involved, you might be dealing with mental health issues, regular health issues, or you might have suffered loss. You might have a cost to pay.
Through this, it’s important to keep an eternal perspective.
Yes, we have to deal with the results of our actions, but we don’t have to wear the shame as our label.
We can let go and grow!
Doesn’t that sound better than clinging to our past mistakes, and wallowing in our guilt?
Which response will cause us to be more effective for the Kingdom?
Life is certainly filled with hills and valleys and some people face more difficult times than others. These chapters are hard, but even in them we can serve the Lord.
The purpose of bringing God glory exists in all of our chapters, not just the easier ones.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
“Letting go” isn’t about forgetting all of our bad memories or ignoring what other people think about us.
It’s not even about feeling happy. It’s about letting go of our sin and guilt, experiencing the fullness of our salvation in Jesus Christ so that we might be fruitful.
So how do you do this?
Well, I don’t have all of the answers for you, but I know a good place to start. Fill your heart and mind with scriptures that speak of the assurance of your salvation. The above scriptures are wonderful ones to meditate on and memorize if you are struggling to release your guilty past.
Here is the truth, friend:
If you have accepted salvation in Jesus then God intends for you to live with joy and freedom. Without Christ we were headed toward death, but with him we are forgiven of sins, made clean, and headed toward heaven!
So let go of your sin and guilt, and live in the light of your eternity!
**
If you have not received salvation in Jesus and you would like to know more about God’s life changing grace then please reach out to our Creating a Great Day team. It would be our privilege to talk about the Gospel with you. 🙂
I am a girl who loves to sit with a cup of coffee and daydream. I am most passionate about Jesus, my family, and family ministry. My husband and I live in Oklahoma with our two precious daughters. I spend my days with my girls, discovering and growing alongside them! You can usually find us either in our sunroom, the park, or taking long walks through Target. :)
Vivid memories still linger from my childhood of those aching days before something exciting was going to take place. Perhaps it was spring break or a birthday. In my teen years it was summer camps.
Countless times I’d count down the days. Those periods of waiting might have felt unbearable at the time, but they were also exciting because I knew it would come to an end. The activity was marked on the calendar and I knew how long I’d have to wait.
Waiting on the Lord without a Set Date
Oh, but there are many times when what we desire isn’t marked on a schedule or calendar. Recently our 4 year old cashed in $5 worth of allowance quarters for a small Minnie Mouse doll- an item she’d spent months longing for.
Every time we went to the store she’d ask us if she had enough. We counted her money over and over, but without a clear concept of the value of money, she didn’t really understand. To her it felt endless. We were all weary from her waiting and it was a time of rejoicing when the wait came to an end.
Why Is It Taking So Long?
We can so relate to our children in their times of waiting, can’t we? Waiting is a life long experience in one way or another. Sadly, even as adults we don’t always handle it well.
I’ve had a particular request that I’ve been lifting to the Lord for years. At times I’ve been in such distress over it that I’ve found myself in doubt and anger.
“Where are you God? Why is this taking so long?”
“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)
The Opportunity in Waiting on the Lord
In the last year I’ve been challenged to consider my desires a little more closely. Could it be that God has withheld this good thing from me because he wanted me to draw closer to Him?
While I can’t know for certain the reasons for my situation, I can (and should) analyze the status of my heart. In the past, I’ve held this request as something that is of the upmost importance for my happiness and worthiness on this earth.
Through this time of waiting, I’ve grown closer to the Lord and found more of the happiness and worth that comes through Jesus. He’s given me comforts and answers in other areas. He has blessed me with the assurance of his presence in my daily life. In this time of waiting I have been able to more fully know the joy that comes from God alone.
God’s Faithfulness While We are Waiting
“Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, ‘The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the person who seeks him. It is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” –Lamentations 3:22-26 (CSB)
I’ve always loved this passage from Lamentations 3. It was written in the context of waiting for an earthly deliverance, but it is a reminder for all of us that God is merciful to us and that He is enough. Our joy today is that He offers us salvation through Jesus. We have an eternal deliverance from our sin, and the gift of His Spirit.
My Heart While I’m Waiting on the Lord
I will continue to offer up my request to the Lord. He knows my heart and He tells me I can bring my burdens to Him. I will not complain to Him though, as if he hasn’t already filled me with the greatest joy I could ever know. My happiness and worth do not depend on my unmet desires, my happiness and worth is set in Christ alone. “The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore I will hope in him.” (Lam. 3:24 KJV)
Encouragement for Your Heart
Are you waiting on the Lord in an area of your life?
Sweet one, I know that it is not easy. Waiting never is. I encourage you to draw yourself closer to the Lord when you are tempted to back away and doubt. Open your Bible and read it’s accounts. Start a prayer journal. Fill your soul with songs of praise. Feel His gentle whispers on the other pages of your heart.
What we long for we may never receive. May our true joy come not from our earthly circumstances but from our eternal destination. Praise Him, we are rescued!
Jayne Michener has been married for over twenty years to a "son of thunder" and is mother to two adolescent daughters, one delightfully immersed in nature and another humorous, artistic girl who is devoted to cats.The better days are spent developing Christian culture and character with the educational principles of Charlotte Mason in mind.The worse days are spent with lightly held sanity, tightly gripped coffee, and semi-vocalized prayer.She is on a journey depending on the Holy Spirit to guide her into all truth, whether unseen spiritual realms or earthly ventures, such as education, healing arts, nutrition, neuroscience, and art.Oh, and her children would be horrified if she did not mention that they live with two cats, Blacksmith and Beauty.
I can’t control my mouth. I’m a cynic. I’m an addict. I’m a victim. I’m fearful. I can’t change.
These statements may echo our experiences, but if we allow our experiences and brokenness to define us, then we shut out the possibility that we can be restored to the glorious image of our Creator.
The First Step of Answering “Who Am I?”
“Who am I?” is the question that haunts us. This question will tease our minds until we first answer the question that Jesus asked Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” Only when we answer with Peter, “You are the Messiah,” meaning our savior and deliverer, will we be able to hear the Lord’s answer to our question, “Who am I?”
Our identity is like clay, molded by experiences, relationships, and our responses to them. This clay is vulnerable, especially in the impressionable young. Sometimes, unguarded clay can be malformed or disfigured when touched by the gnarled hands of traumatic experiences, abusive relationships, and inappropriate responses to them both.
Laura Perry’s Transgender Lifestyle
For example, First Stone Ministries recently published the compelling testimony of Laura Perry, who lived a transgender lifestyle for eight years. Laura grew up in the shadow of her hyper-stressed, “super-Christian” mother. Her mom communicated the message that Laura was a nuisance, while she doted on Laura’s more quiet, compliant brother. The intense jealously this bred, combined with being molested at age eight, and female problems in her teens, was enough that Laura threw her female identity into a deep cistern.
Laura began fantasizing about being a boy due to her intense hatred of her own gender. She began to seek out sexual experiences, became addicted to pornography, and pursued sexual encounters with strangers. A local transgender group then encouraged her to pursue her new identity, so she received heavy doses of hormonal therapy, a double mastectomy, and surgical remove of all female organs to fully become “Jake.” Laura’s name and body were changed, but her deep depression and dissatisfaction stayed the same. She recalled, “The outward cosmetic change had done nothing to ease my identity crisis.”
Transformations & Finding Their Identity
As Laura was transforming, her mother was undergoing a transformation of her own. Laura’s mom surrendered her self-righteousness for an enticing faith in Jesus. The two of them began to talk daily about a Bible study her mom was leading. Then Laura heard a radio broadcast discussing the rising transgender issue. She wished the host would return to more mundane topics, but instead the words spun her identity around like clay on the potter’s wheel. She was reeling.
Two questions came to her in a vision from Jesus:
“If you stood before me tonight, what name would I call?” and “Do you trust me?”
Taking Part in the Death & Resurrection
Laura affirmed her trust in Jesus by letting Jake die, a death that she mourned with deep, anguished sorrow. In the dark night of her soul, she wept with painful grief for three days. One can imagine Jesus with her in the tomb, waiting to guide the resurrection that was soon to come.
Leaving Jake’s clothes in the grave, Laura attended a women’s Bible study and encountered a love beyond anything she had experienced through a sexual partner. Life and freedom were her resurrection inheritance, and in the light of love, her true identity was revealed.
Finding Our True Identity
Instead of gender reassignment surgery, do we let the Word perform identity reassignment surgery? Do we have courage, like Laura, that allows the Lord to transform every aspect of who we think we are at the deepest level?
All too often, we identity with our sin and brokenness more than we identify with the image of God. We must look to YHWH, the great “I AM,” to confidently answer the question, “Who am I?”
Our true assignment is to reflect the image of God in Christ. Love calls us to identity with Him.
Picture this… a mom, who is trying her best to keep her kids fed and thriving and learning and not fighting and the house clean and the dishes clean and the toys put away and the kids entertained and the clothes put away and the dog fed and the bathrooms wiped down and the kitchen sanitized and the carpet looking as best it can and her husband de-stressed at home and the car vacuumed and the flowers alive…
Tired yet?
Yeah, me too. Sometimes in my day I can’t seem to keep my head above water, or above the clutter. Some days I have to literally walk around with my head looking up so as not to be burdened by all the stuff collecting in my home. Please say you can relate!
my closet, before
I truly believe whether you are a stay a home mom, a working mom, a single mom, or not a mom at all, we all have the struggle with STUFF. And I believe that the society that we live in has made us obsessed with having more. Doing more. Being more. So when my days get heavy with the hard stuff and my house can’t even be a calming, peaceful retreat, I cannot seem to get a grasp on any one thing.
It was recommended by a friend, so I read it as quickly as I could. Along the way, I shared some ideas with my husband. He was so quickly on board that he wanted to get started even before I finished reading the book! Ha!
So what did we do? Called up my parents and asked if they could watch our kids so that we could…CLEAN! I know. We are some wild and crazy kids!
Once we began, the KonMari rules started to make sense. For example, the book recommends starting with categories of items instead of rooms. The author suggests touching each piece to truly part with it. We asked ourselves if different items sparked joy in our life, among other rules outlined in the book. Initially, we mocked the rules, but as we worked through the process, we began to praise them.
my closet, mostly done!
To be honest, it has been a spiritual experience for me. The Lord asks the rich ruler to give all of his posessions away — could I do that? The Lord calls me to be a good steward of what I have been given, and honestly, if I can’t even be joyful in my home, am I being a good steward in it? Can I serve my kids, husband, friends, and family well? My problem was that I was drowning so deep in my things that I couldn’t be a good mom or wife or daughter of the King. I wasn’t a good version of myself.
I am learning through my imperfections that the Lord wants me as I am. But I have to make room in my life to hear Him. I must make room in my life and in my home to learn and worship Him in all areas. This means willingly giving up things that are currently taking up space to make room for more of God.
Over the next several weeks, maybe even months — because truly this is a process — Creating a Great Day will:
Weekly have a “KonMari Spiritual Adventures” thread on Facebook as a way to encourage each other on this journey. Post what you feel comfortable with. This is not about embarrassing anyone but truly freeing ourselves from physical stuff so that spiritually we can be ready for any adventure God takes us on.
Every few weeks encourage you to tackle a new area of your house with a Blog post. Of course, we will be following the KonMari method so we will go in her order but detail it out for you, just in case you don’t know it, sharing our funny stories and our spiritual lessons.
Will you join us on the KonMari Adventure with a Spiritual Twist of freeing ourselves up physically and spiritually to do God’s will?
Don’t have a copy of the book? No problem! Enter to win a copy.
This is not a sponsored post. Creating a Great Day is providing the book for this giveaway because we have found this to be helpful to us.
Although the book itself isn’t spiritual in nature, it does provide a lot of springboard applications that can be used to tidy up our hearts as well as our homes.
Susan York Meyers is the author of several children’s books, including the picture book, Grrr…Night! for which she won the Creative Women of Oklahoma Award. If you enjoy Susan’s humor, check out Two Little Old Ladies: It’s all in the Attitude, a humorous inspirational book combining both fiction and devotionals. Susan lives with her hubby and Kira, the dog that thinks she’s people. You can find out more about Susan and her books at susanameyers.com. Sign up for her newsletter which comes out four times a year.
A simple question, but one that threw me into a panic. My carefully cleaned hall bath was in use. That left my definitely not-ready-for-guests master bathroom. In one moment, I had to decide whether to graciously say yes, (oh please, help me to have remembered to close the closet door on our dirty laundry) or plead a lack of toilet paper. I’m not sure which scenario would have left me looking worse, but as I mentioned, I was panicking.
In the end, I let my guest use the bathroom and hoped she ignored the used towels and toothpaste splattered mirror. And please, let her be gracious enough to stay out of my medicine cabinet.
The Medicine Cabinet of the Heart
Bathrooms are truly the great equalizers of life. Want to know a little secret? Everyone hides scary things in their medicine cabinet. The lady who always looks like the wind wouldn’t dare blow her hair stocks Gas Away medicine by the case. The lady who makes you feel like nothing ever goes wrong in her life hides hemorrhoid cream behind her moisturizer. And the woman whose kids call every day, twice on Sundays – well, that little mustache razor doesn’t belong to her hubby.
We often don’t see the ugly in other people’s lives. And unfortunately, that can lead to a type of reverse judging. I see your clean house, supposedly perfect family, and totally put together life and decide my prayers aren’t needed. Why pray for someone who has no real problems?
But if I could look into the medicine cabinet of your heart, I might see a different story.
I’d see a Sunday school teacher who struggles with a substance abuse problem.
A mother whose heart breaks as she prays about the wrong choices her child is making.
Or the woman who, every morning, prays every prayer she has to fight her pain just to get out of bed.
And beneath it all, beneath the embarrassing secrets and heartbreaking pain, is a terror of being judged, especially by her fellow Christians.
I need to start focusing on the heart.
Not because it makes me feel better to know Ms. Perfect also has problems, but because Proverbs 12:25 tells us,
Anxiety weighs down the heart,but a kind word cheers it up.
We all have anxiety and pain. I need to look past your carefully crafted-exterior. I need to see the fellow Christian sister who hurts. I need to throw away the judgement and simply approach with love. I need to be the kind word.
As for that actual medicine cabinet in the bathroom – if you keep your mouth shut about mine, I promise to keep mine shut about yours!
Prayer Over our Hearts
Dear Lord, I don’t need to know all You know. But I pray that You help me to see the needs of others. And, Lord, help me be willing to help, love, and comfort, but never judge. In Your Son’s name, Amen
