Saturday, September 19, 2009

the external or internal props?

hi.
welp...i sure am relishing this little season my Father has been kind enough to give me.
it's a season of a lot of rather beautiful 1-on-1 time with Him. it's a season with tons of face to face family time. and it's a season of rawly looking God & myself in the eyes- of really having the space/time to recognize & process at a whole new level Who He is, who He's made me to be & and what i REALLY value.
and, to be frank, it's rather uncomfortably eyeopening to see just how i'll spend my days when there's not a whole lot of structure/schedule in place nor is there a strong community of kindred hearts surrounding me on all sides as there typically has been the last few years.
VERY eyeopening.
and i adore it. greatly.
ALSO. i have my own bedroom & bathroom. i've not tasted of that goodness in over 3 years. so that's rather NEAT and APPRECIATED. thanks God :)

i've not been home for more than a few days or a few weeks in many years.
and now after having been home for the last 3 months, i am STILL astonished at just how much my God has changed me the last many years. the myriad of humans & different personalities; the wide variety of situations & stressors & joys; the experiences i've shared with my Lord have no less than formed me.

and i'll tell you something...there's an even greater solidifying in Who i know Him to be; in who i know He's formed me to be; and in what i value/cherish/invest my time & thoughts & resources in that inevitably happens within the rubber-meets-the-road environment of family.

i believe He is teaching me some things, many things, right now.
i'm learning that until i can be true to Who i know Him to be & true to "live up to what i've already attained in Him" by really being true to my unique self, there's a certain amount of spiritual authority that's lacking it seems...
it's the day-in, day-out respect, mutual-submission, kindness, humility, embrace of healthy conflict, joy, appreciation, etc etc etc with the ones who know us best that releases greater measures of authority in the Spirit i believe.
it's remarkably eye-opening to be walking through a season with the Lord where virtually all of the "external props" have been lovingly removed [and i reckon we each have our own set of external props/comforts that we prefer...]. i see even more clearly than ever where my AUTHENTIC plans, dreams, thoughts, rooted/groundedness, confidence, hope, comforts, etc are based.
and it's been kinda hard at times...but mostly INCREDIBLY refreshing to share this rawly intimate time with the Lord.

i am entirely grateful.

''break out of routine... break out of ritual... break out of whatever it may be that allows you to be satisfied with an external expression or comfort over an internal encounter with your God.''

-bill johnson.