My last post was about our general ministry for the month. For this post, I wanted to share a little bit about what God and I are working on together. I feel like I am in a season of being able to pour out to others. Along with that, my word for the month is SELFLESS. Let me tell you, you don’t realize just how selfish you are until you start focusing on being selfless. To say that is a work in progress would be an understatement. Prayers appreciated. While I think I’ve made great strides in my previous words: BOLDNESS, DAUGHTER, FREEDOM, and BE MARY/MERRY, selfless may turn into a multiple month word. By that I mean, the rest of my life. We are selfish beings by habit and preferring others does not come naturally. We have to continuously make the choice to die to ourselves and put others first. What makes this even more challenging is that by its very nature, selflessness often goes unnoticed, as it should. If we are performing selfless acts with the hope of being recognized for how selfless we are, then our primary motive is inherently selfish because we seek to feed our own pride. No wonder it’s such a challenge to truly be selfless! I’m learning that the most selfless acts are those that you do when no one else is around. The acts that end up being between you and God or the best kind and can ensure you that you are truly reaching a level of selflessness. It’s important to rely on the Lord for your strength in this quest because it truly is impossible to do on your own.
Obviously selflessness is one area in which the Lord and I have had some intense fellowship. Another is the future. During my quiet times, He has spoken two different things that I wanted to share with you:
“Daughter,
Can I say something? I love you for you, I 100% endorse you and how you were designed. I have big plans for you…if you remain obedient and stick with me you will live an extraordinary life. It may not look as you expect, but it will be far better. Will you please just trust me? I love surprising my children, it brings me joy but when you constantly ask and think about the future, you rob me of that joy. Let me work, OK beautiful one? Do you trust me? I love you so much.”
***That’ll work***
During a different time, the Lord gave me a picture of an erupting volcano. It was emitting massive amounts of smoke but as I stood and watched I began to drift upward. I floated so far that I passed through the overwhelming billows of smoke and rose up above to be greeted by the pure sunlight. Accompanying the image was this:
“Be obedient in trusting me with the future. You have a reprieve from brokenness for a moment, a bit of fresh air. It will return but do not fear. “
This is a picture that I drew in my notebook after seeing the volcano. The World Race talks about how each of the Racers, if they are fully pursuing all that the Race has to offer, goes through at least one period of brokenness. This can look different for many people. I would say that my first few months were somewhat of a period of brokenness and I’m moving into a season of harvest. The Lord used the volcano to remind me that our spiritual lives fluctuate through different seasons but that we should not fear the seasons of brokenness because they are usually the ones in which we grow the most. Here’s to the next season of brokenness for us all. May it lead us into an even greater season of harvest because we ran our race with perseverance.
Also, clearly I need to be better at trusting the Lord with the future, eh?
