Training camp was a lot of things. Busy. Fun. Gross. Full of laughter. Challenging. Freeing. Full of worship. It was nice to be away from day to day life for a couple of weeks. It gave me the opportunity to sit in the presence of the Lord which was incredibly needed, at least in the way I encountered Him at training camp.
While there, I was reminded that I have a tendency to carry the weight of other people’s stuff more often than I should, and in doing so, I forget to rejoice. The past few months have been hard to say the least. Life happens. So the first few days of training camp I carried the weight of both mine and others.
But see God did a thing and during worship one night He reminded me that other people’s stuff is not my darkness to bear and his love is radically chasing after the people I love just like he did for me. He fights for people way better than I ever could. If you haven’t heard the song Reckless Love by Cory Asbury- check it out here.
I was also reminded that I am allowed to rejoice despite the mess. Sometimes I sit in that weight and forget that there’s more. Life isn’t “all good or all bad”. It’s a mix of beautifully hard moments and He is present for every single one of them. He sees you and me. He grieves when we do but we aren’t meant to sit in the mess. If we forget to sit in joy and instead sit in chaos, I don’t know about you, but that leaves me exhausted.
I was reminded that if something is a daily struggle then it should be a daily choice to surrender it to God. I need to daily choose to leave the weight with Him and stop carrying what isn’t mine to carry. Do you know what’s at the end of that? Freedom. He’ll carry the weight. All of it.
At lunch one day we all sat down in random spots where on the table were different notes of encouragement. In my spot was a note a little different. “You’ve abandoned some things you used to do that you got joy from. Rejoicing is important for you. What makes your heart rejoice”?
What makes my heart rejoice? Hiking, being outdoors, people, and worship music. It’s in those moments I can sit in God’s presence and be free. I choose to believe that God is in control of all of it-both the good and the challenges. I choose to believe that He is still good and trustworthy even if things don’t change. I choose to rejoice in the mess because there are some really great things I don’t want to miss.
What makes your heart rejoice?
