What spiritual season are you in? Are you in a rut, doing the same thing over and over and over? Are you suffering from burnout? Are you zealous right now, with a passion for everything Jesus and everyone knowing Jesus? Or do you just not care for any of it?
As Christians, we go from season to season, from glory to glory, walking along with Christ. Sometimes we move left and right, here and there, continuing on to the best of our abilities in spite of how we feel. And sometimes, we lag waaaaay far behind – on purpose. We find ourselves in a place where we just don’t care. Burnout, boredom, and ambivalence fuel our actions. Sometimes it’s just plain fear.
So I am walking with Jesus and He speeds up. I don’t want to speed up so I start walking slowly, thinking that it will make things different, because hey, Jesus walks with me, right?
Well, doing things my way doesn’t make things better at all, in fact, I find out that it makes things pretty awful. Yes, Jesus walks with me at my speed as well, and He keeps gently putting His hand around my shoulder saying, “Pick the pace up, now, we’re walking a little bit faster.”
Do I dare walk faster as I’m told? My insides want to, now if my heart will only tell my feet!
The Holy Spirit told Paul exactly what to write (as usual) in order to put words to what I’m feeling in my heart. God put it perfectly: “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Boldface type is mine.) Romans 7:21-25a
The last blog I wrote had the sounds of falling chains all over it. “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free, my God, my Savior has ransomed me, and like a flood His mercy rains, unending love, Amazing Grace…” (lyrics by Chris Tomlin.) Amen and amen! And now I have willingly allowed another chain to be placed on me; in fact, I hooked the chain up myself. And I see that there is more than one!
Jesus has removed the chains of all of our sins – past, present, and future; He did it from the cross. We have been set free from all of it! Why would we go and put more chains on ourselves? If the cell door is open, why are we still sitting in jail? Do you have a chain that you put on yourself? Or several? What spiritual season are you in right now? How long have you been walking this path? Days, months, years? Are you perpetually in one particular season? Is it “winter” in your season? Are you tired of the winter, and do you long for spring? Questions, questions…but it’s important to answer them.
We must answer them with The Spirit for He is the One Who gives wisdom! If you suffer from depression or are bipolar, I wonder if the chains feel way tighter. Probably not, but it sure seems that they are! It’s hard enough to get through every day, right? Add to that the fact that I am not keeping in step with what I have been told, and it’s really hard not to get in the corner with my blanket and stay in the dark. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. The answer surely does not lie in that place, I can assure you.
I’ve been led to a place of “getting down and dirty” with Jesus. To allow Him total access, showing me how to cooperate with Him so that these chains I put on myself can be removed. I am yearning for a new walk with my Savior that is deeper and true. And I don’t really want to do this for me any more, I want to do this for others, so that God will be glorified. I want to melt into the wall and allow Jesus to shine! And along the way, the blessings in my personal walk will be innumerable. Jesus has layers of everything in His kingdom. But I yearn for others to know what I know: God is real, Jesus is real, The Spirit is real…I want you to see Him, too.
So I ask you, is God talking to you as well, are you willing to walk with me this summer as we launch into a new season? Whether or not you suffer from any mental issue – just everyone in general…is The Spirit calling you to new places? Shall we allow the Spirit to take us into the deeper part of the Living Water? To show us how to unlock these self-imposed, rusty chains?
Let me know and we’ll walk as a group online. Email me. Godsong.ivy@gmail.com
Y’all, God is up to something. Something wonderful. When I sit down to write this, I never know what I will type or what God wants to say, so this comes as quite a surprise to me…a wonderful, exciting surprise!
Anyone for a JoyDance road trip?
Scripture to ponder: John 5:1-9
Today’s weapon: “Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’” John 5:8