Last night my mind was jam-packed with the horrific events I can’t stop reading about. More and more, constant intake.
I know God literally commands us to be at peace and find joy even in terrible events; I just couldn’t help but feel like joy would be a dismissal of the travesties, the economic and political devastation, worldwide deception, division and all-out spiritual war happening.
(Do you feel the spiritual side of it? Have you asked yourself why something just feels… inexplicably wrong, confusing, and overwhelming? That the ground beneath our feet doesn’t feel the same and we’re somehow powerless against it? Welcome to a spiritual war. It’s very real.)
I opened my Bible and was just kinda flitting through Isaiah with these “but where is the joy, God?” thoughts, and my eyeballs landed on Isaiah 55:12.
“For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Christian friends, we’re not being spoon-fed anymore. That’s what’s happening. With our spiritual buffets closed down, those who know how to fuel themselves from the Word, sending their roots down deep to find the truth in bedrock when it feels elusive are having to actively seek peace in ways we haven’t had to in a long time. Those that lacked depth or true relationship with God are lost and floundering.
If I got distracted and checked out from making a daily connection with Him, I always knew I had Sunday to reset and re-center myself. So… how quickly did I choose other things once church was canceled? Pretty dang quickly. The loosey-goosey-ness has been… humbling and revealing. Not a fan.
When I’m desperate for something, I remember Him and draw close. He always meets me. Soon after I get that thing, I go on my merry way and get busy. The busyness is all valid things like 3 jobs, a consistent fitness routine, family relationships, etc… but before I know it, 3 weeks have gone by and the person that blessed me with these jobs and incredible community (literally everything I was just asking Him for) hasn’t heard from me… and that’s all He wants. Me.
Not my service or even faithfulness with what He gave me before He has my attention first.
This is often why I believe He allows hardship- not that He is the direct cause of bad or difficult times, but His nearness is undeniably different when we’re in pain and we need Him. Or when we’re fired up and desperate for something, and come running to Him full of big emotions. He responds. He finally has our full attention.
He doesn’t want a casual connection- He wants our fire, our very worst AND best.
I don’t believe things have gotten the worst they will get… because I don’t think the church is quite desperate enough. Yet.
We’ve been stretched thin, poked, prodded, pushed, provoked… but not brought to our knees as a whole. It’s close. It’s still happening. More and more of us are waking up at our own pace, shaking off the “it’ll go back to normal soon” complacency that gives us permission to coast through times of unrest and “wait it out.”
For years, my MO has been to sit back and wait before acting. I usually tap my fingers nervously, hoping I don’t have to get loud for the truth that’s screaming in my head to be heard or to make myself seen in order for what I know is the right thing to get done.
We are not going back to “normal” or anything comfortably livable this time around unless we do the things we were put here to do. (Do you kinda feel that? It’s not gonna just go away.)
What do I mean? With things being different, this means the stage is being set for those who have felt displaced, in waiting or unseen, perhaps with a story or passion but no clear platform for it.
We have felt like square pegs in round holes because the fit didn’t exist until now. I encourage you to find even the smallest, most immediate platform you have to tell your story and use your voice. Now is not the time to wait for one to reveal itself- you probably know exactly what it is, and that “surely not that” thought probably suffocating you right now as you read this is the one you need to act on right now.
I have these conversations with my close friends all the TIME about what God is showing us, and what we feel He’s doing… but I don’t vocalize it on a more public platform because I have a diverse friend group and never want to alienate those who think and feel differently than I do. I realize that’s not fair to them- it shows a lack of respect for their ability to make room for me in their lives and it’s not fair to anyone who needs the encouragement.
The verses right before the ones I shared:
v.10: For as the rain and the snow come down from Heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
I can’t continue to sacrifice words I’ve been given at the risk of having them misunderstood. If it’s His word, He will back it and ensure it doesn’t return empty.
Same to you, other quiet ones. Neither can you.
