Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
StoryPeople - Brian Andreas
Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Legacy, Part 2 - Nov. '08
So what’s my legacy? As a single woman the twin themes that God has impressed on my mind are holiness/purity and the place of the wilderness, dual themes laying claim to a life of faithful obedience springing from a place of trust. Singleness is my testing ground of discipline and devotion to Him, a time of preparation. This is the time where the purity of my heart (or pretense thereof) is seen for what it really is. Now is the time when I have no husband to answer to but the Lord. He is the One watching me, the One who cares deeply about who I am in private, the One who wants to teach me to love. Though singleness may seem at times like a difficult time of discipline, it is also a gift of a season, a time when I can give Him my undivided heart and let Him see it for what is, in both its beauty and its unattractiveness.
Hosea 2:14, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her.” For each person the wilderness looks different and each season of life brings different types of wilderness. Every time He pulls one of His children aside it is not to simply leave them suffering alone, though it may feel like it. The individual conversations He longs to have with you in this place of quiet and solitude are unique to your person, your heart, your mind, your needs, your desires, and your situation. But for now I know that singleness/celibacy is my wilderness. Now is the time where I let God be what I long for in a husband. Now is the time when my mind and heart can be happily, undividedly and undistractedly His.
Yes, there are times when this season is punctuated with loneliness and the particular longing for that threatening but sweet intimacy and accountability, the need for affirmation and the closeness of friendship with the husband I may never own. But these emotions ought to drive me to the heart of my Loving Maker because not only is His character the creating source of intimacy but the answer to these feelings as well. My longing heart should not, and does not, seek satisfaction in tiny morsels of daydreaming, fantasies and wishful thinking but in the feast of the reality of the deep intimacy I daily share with the Lord.
I’m learning to let God be the answer to every longing in my heart, to give Him the opportunity to show me how He can surprise me and surpass everything I’ve hoped for. God has a unique habit of being excessive in His grace. When I go to Him for affirmation and companionship He doesn’t just fill my need, He eagerly overflows my empty places, creating additional and unexpected pools of blessing and character. True, I still experience loneliness from time to time, and that’s okay. But I’ve found that my emotional and physical longings are most diminished / absent when I am most contented in Him.
Of course God refines us in every season of our lives, no matter where we’re at. There is never a wrong season. Every time in our life is the right time to let God have His way. But for those of us who aren’t married, singleness/celibacy can be a wonderful season of preparation. Naturally, responding to His discipline is up to me. Holiness and purity is not easy. It isn’t born overnight but is birthed over time, through long labor-pains of hard decisions, bad days, wrong choices, humbling apologies, the persistent pursuit of wisdom and discernment and regular, honest intercession.
My wilderness is a gift of a season wherein my pretentious purity can be transformed and perfected. Now is my time of preparation. So what will my legacy be?
Hosea 2:14, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her.” For each person the wilderness looks different and each season of life brings different types of wilderness. Every time He pulls one of His children aside it is not to simply leave them suffering alone, though it may feel like it. The individual conversations He longs to have with you in this place of quiet and solitude are unique to your person, your heart, your mind, your needs, your desires, and your situation. But for now I know that singleness/celibacy is my wilderness. Now is the time where I let God be what I long for in a husband. Now is the time when my mind and heart can be happily, undividedly and undistractedly His.
Yes, there are times when this season is punctuated with loneliness and the particular longing for that threatening but sweet intimacy and accountability, the need for affirmation and the closeness of friendship with the husband I may never own. But these emotions ought to drive me to the heart of my Loving Maker because not only is His character the creating source of intimacy but the answer to these feelings as well. My longing heart should not, and does not, seek satisfaction in tiny morsels of daydreaming, fantasies and wishful thinking but in the feast of the reality of the deep intimacy I daily share with the Lord.
I’m learning to let God be the answer to every longing in my heart, to give Him the opportunity to show me how He can surprise me and surpass everything I’ve hoped for. God has a unique habit of being excessive in His grace. When I go to Him for affirmation and companionship He doesn’t just fill my need, He eagerly overflows my empty places, creating additional and unexpected pools of blessing and character. True, I still experience loneliness from time to time, and that’s okay. But I’ve found that my emotional and physical longings are most diminished / absent when I am most contented in Him.
Of course God refines us in every season of our lives, no matter where we’re at. There is never a wrong season. Every time in our life is the right time to let God have His way. But for those of us who aren’t married, singleness/celibacy can be a wonderful season of preparation. Naturally, responding to His discipline is up to me. Holiness and purity is not easy. It isn’t born overnight but is birthed over time, through long labor-pains of hard decisions, bad days, wrong choices, humbling apologies, the persistent pursuit of wisdom and discernment and regular, honest intercession.
My wilderness is a gift of a season wherein my pretentious purity can be transformed and perfected. Now is my time of preparation. So what will my legacy be?
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