I usually think out my blogs and have a plan when it comes to posting something, but as I laid awake for over an hour this morning, the quiet voice I heard was saying, “Come to Me…” As I entered into His presence, here are a few of my thoughts. Matthew 11:28-30 says, “‘Come to me,’ all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
I have learned over the last 6 months how hard it is at times, really all the time for me to just come to the Lord, to rest in His presence and to be still. There are so many voices and thoughts that consume my heart and mind that they drown out the voice of my Creator, who is continuously wooing me to Himself. I mean really, how do we stop those conversations that we have in our head on a continual basis? How do we discipline ourselves to be quiet and bask in the presence of our Father who loves us unconditionally? How do we learn and move to a place where we are gentle and humble in our hearts? How do we really let go the burdens we hold on to? How do we stop doing, planning and controlling and learn to just be? How do we really hear His voice?
I think the answer is we don’t. Keep reading. In 2 Cor 3:17, it talks about where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. In the greek translation freedom means to run wildly. We were created to run wildly and it is the Spirit of God within us that transforms our hearts. It is the Spirit of God within us that allows us to live in the image we were created in, the image of God. It is the Spirit of God that teaches us to be quiet. It is the Spirit of God that brings peace. It is the Spirit of God that silences our hearts and those voices. It is the Spirit of God that allows us to respond to the love of our Father. It is the Spirit of God that teaches us to let go. It is the Spirit of God that teaches us to trust in a way that makes no sense at all. It is the Spirit of God that teaches us to just be. It is not about what we do. When we let go of the control and let God move, we then begin to run wildly into all that He has for us.
Everyday on this journey I learn more of what that looks like and God is moving mountains in my life, spiritually and literally. Words don’t really do justice to the thankfulness that is consuming my heart. He is good and He is faithful. Below are some pics of our journey up Snake Mountain, where God moved and came to our rescue. If you are tired and weary, if you are busy and consumed, quiet yourself today and let Him speak to you. He is there speaking already, sometimes we just have to be still enough to listen.
(This captures a little bit of the steepness of this mountain and a great illustration of what it has taken to overcome the junk in my heart this year. I was scared and fearful, but I knew my God was with me. I still have a ways to go.)
(All smiles at the top, we had overcome…little did we know the darkness would come and we would need to be rescued.)
(The Lord sent Benny to our rescue and we climbed down the mountain and while it was dark, our path was lit by the moon and the Lord was with us the whole way. No matter how dark it gets, His light is brighter and He will illuminate the way.)
(Would you believe we encountered this on the way? Don’t, but the picture is just majestic and I wanted to include it…our Safari was sweet! What an amazing God we serve!)
