Okay I
know it’s kind of gross but I love peeling sun burnt skin. Yes, I mean literally slowly pulling off the
dry dead skin that commonly comes after your first summer sun over
exposure. The bigger pieces the better,
which requires a lot of patience. Here
in South Africa we are getting plenty of summer sun and while my initial burn
is long gone resulting in a nice golden brown tan, strangely I’m still
peeling. 
As I sit picking
at and peeling my dry, dead skin reflecting on the last 5 ½ months and pondering
what the next 5 ½ will bring I realize I’m not only peeling away on the outside
but on the inside too.
Once God has begun the process of
sanctification in your life, watch and see how God causes your confidence in
your own natural virtues and power to wither away. He will continue until you
learn to draw your life from the reservoir of the resurrection life of Jesus.
Thank God if you are going through this drying-up experience!
-Oswald Chambers
The New
Year signifies the halfway point on our Race and I am thanking God for
taking me through this “drying up experience” and for all He is peeling away…
- He is
peeling away my tendency to be critical and focus on the failures of others and
now I’m overwhelmed with a sense of my own spiritual need. - He is
peeling away my independent, self-sufficient spirit and now I embrace a
dependent spirit, recognizing my need for others. - He is
peeling away my need to prove I’m right and now I’m more willing to yield the
right to be right. - He is
peeling away my demanding spirit to reveal a meek spirit. - He is
peeling away my tendency to be self-protective of my time, rights and
reputation to reveal a desire to be self-denying. - He is
peeling away my desire to be successful, recognized and appreciated, and now
I’m motivated to make others a success sensing my own unworthiness, thrilled
that God would use me at all. - He is
peeling away my confidence in how much I know and now I’m humbled by how much I
have to learn.
I feel so
incredibly BLESSED for all God has done and continues to do in and through my
life! I think the Amplified version of
my bible defined best my feeling of being BLESSED.
BLESSED = Enjoying
enviable happiness, spiritually prosperous, with life-joy and satisfaction in
God’s favor and salvation.
Thank you
Lord for enviable happiness! People see
this in my pictures on Facebook and comment, “We’ve never seen you happier” and
“You look SO happy”. They’re right, I’ve
never been happier in my life.
Thank you
Lord for spiritual prosperity! Although
I’m not working 12-14 hour days for a paycheck, I am thriving spiritually and
finding my worth in You.
Thank you
Lord for a filling my life with JOY everyday and for satisfaction with all You
have given me, most importantly an inheritance in heaven!
