“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the waste land.” Isaiah 43:18-19
I am not certain when or if it has always been this feeling of knowing that God is showing His presence to me. I can’t pretend to have it all together because I do not. I have sensed something different in me since I was a young girl. Now years later I recognize the gifts, joys, disappointments, and trials that can be converging for this particular moment. I can step out in faith or continue on my own way. But I am trying to be done with “my way” because the more I am surrendered to our Lord and Savior the more I am strengthened and joyful.
And still I know there is more and I want more! Who doesn’t? We all get caught up in our lives and before we know it we may have lost being present. It seems impossible to me that I have been married for 25 years and my son is twenty-one making his own way in Texas, so far from me. Changes ring loud in my mind because my current season is a so different. I am more used to being over-scheduled, and time now may be my own but as it turns out it is not about me. Amidst the happenings of growing in Christ there of course have been things that have distracted me immensely and unexpected changes to my health have left me transitioning and reinventing my daily routine now.
But I can not be still, there must be forward momentum and I have always taken the time to write and sort through things. So, sharing my observations might help engage in a meaningful conversation here. Because I find no matter what life has thrown our way….. encouragement can never be in surplus and we need those kindnesses and learned depths to resonate in each of us. After all, sharing life’s happenings is a spark that can ignite true sisterhood. So here I am starting, because there is no time like the present and we need to live for the present moment.
I share this verse because so often the words and actions of others can derail us. We meet and in 2 seconds we have accessed one another and made a judgement. Good, bad or indifferent. We feel we can account for who is standing in front of us when it has taken a lifetime for each of us to get to this point. I have judged and been judged. Discernment may lead me often to a greater level of understanding, however, sifting through to communicate effectively has an outcome that depends on the wounds of the recipient and my very own wounds. And let’s face it we all have wounds. I have stood in the blast zone, been embraced for facilitating an awareness to truth, been isolated as the “unselected” or sought out so much by others that it overwhelms me. Some friends are family, and family true friends while others have faded off as if no exchange had taken place. I don’t take entrance on the emotional roller coaster anymore. In all, I have come to rely on the “peace that surpasses all understanding.” Not at all an overnight change but a personal continuum, learning of Love.
We each have to be confident in Christ in our present. “See, I am doing a new thing!” So my point in this, reacting or not reacting is our fruit. We can work to forget past pain and move toward healing. True healing of our mind and body. This comes from the conscious effort to live in the present. It is gaining life application of Isaiah 43: 18-19.
But to truly embrace this “new thing” we must receive His Love. Receiving is difficult for us. Come on, we rely on ourselves far too often. No matter what assessment others have made of you. You are loved! Get out from under that past. Renew.
But to truly embrace this “new thing” we must receive His Love. Receiving is difficult for us. Come on, we rely on ourselves far too often. No matter what assessment others have made of you. You are loved! Get out from under that past. Renew.
Hey, we are just two girls in the woods on the sweetest journey…. knowing HE is making a way. So we pray and share our time with the goal of encouraging others.
Remember that all we do and say is….for Audience of One.
