Who's at the door?

When I was a little girl, I had a book of bible stories with colorful pictures.  Many days, I would sit quietly and thumb through that book and look at the pictures.  There was one picture that stood out to me more than the others.  It was a picture of Jesus standing on the outside of a door knocking with the caption, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock."  I would stare at that picture for a long time.  I must admit, my first thought was a little scary, like "Yikes! What in the world is Jesus doing at the door?"  

On the other hand, I was so intrigued at the possibility of Jesus standing at the door knocking that I would wonder what I would do if He was literally standing at my door.  Would I let Him in?  Would I feel unprepared for such an important guest?  Would I just get really quiet and hope He thinks I'm not home?  Why is He even here?  What does He want?  Should I open the door?  Would I get in trouble for opening the door?  Technically, He's not a stranger...  The questions were endless for my 7-year-old mind as I stared at this beautiful and powerful image.

Amazingly, many years later, I can still see that picture very vividly in my mind.  It has stuck with me over the years.  And the question of "what would I have to do to be prepared to open the door, should Jesus stop by?" has lingered in my mind.  Wow!  Huge, right?

The fact of the matter is, I don't have to do anything.  Jesus is not an inspector showing up with a clipboard.  He's not stopping by to grade my performance and give me a list of opportunities for improvement. The fact of the matter is, He's stopping by to comfort me when I am hurting (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).  He's stopping by to provide for me when I am in need (Luke 12:22-24).  He's stopping by to be a friend when I am lonely (John 15:13-15).  He's stopping by to give me peace when I am in the midst of a storm (John 14:27).  He's stopping by to love me in my most unlovable moments (1 John 4:16).

As impactful as that picture was as a child, I now understand as an adult how much of a gift it is to have Jesus find me important enough to stand at my door and knock.  He's not there to ask for anything, but to BE all that I need.  

Decades later, I now know what I would do if He were at my door, because I do it everyday...  I simply swing the door of my heart open and say "Come in!  I'm so glad you're here!"

Love Always,

Shy

The Whisper

I was tossing and turning at 3:00 a.m.  Was it the two sloppy joes I'd eaten the night before that had me awake?  Okay, it was three sloppy joes, but that's not the point.  I couldn't get comfortable, so I finally got up at 3:30 and went downstairs to sit in my "listening chair".  It's the chair I sit in to get quiet and close enough to God to hear a whisper.  When I walked into the room, I was reminded of Eli's advice to Samuel when he heard the voice of the Lord calling him (1 Samuel 3).  In verse 9, Eli tells Samuel "if he calls you, say 'speak Lord, for your servant is listening'".  It was at that moment when I knew it was more than a sloppy joe that had me awake.  This was intentional.

I knew this was a "lay my head in the lap of God and just listen" moment.  I knew this was a moment when His words would soothe my spirit, slow my racing thoughts and just whisper "I'm here".  Have you ever had one of those moments when you may not have even been able to make out the words, but you understood the message?  That moment when you knew you could just drop your end of the rope to just be.

Sometimes that's all God wants us to do - just be.  Be still.  Be quiet.  Be with Him.  Sometimes there's no grand revelation, "just being" with Him is enough.  Other times, answers come through peace.  Sometimes next steps come through being still.  Sometimes the message comes through silence.  But most importantly, the whisper in our spirits is best heard when we get close enough to hear it.  Shhhhh....  Lean into the whisper.

I reread 1 Samuel 3 and this time what really stood out to me in verse 10 was "the Lord came and stood there" the third time He called to Samuel.  What?  Like stood there?  When the Lord comes and stands there 1) He has a message for you and, 2) He's close enough for you to hear a whisper.  Listen!  

He's standing there because He has a message for you.  Don't worry about how He will speak.  He speaks to us in many different ways.  All we have to do is open our hearts, minds and spirits and say, "speak, for your servant is listening" and watch Him whisper in a way that your heart understands.  

Love Always,

Shy

#winning

There is a song by Jekalyn Carr called "You Will Win" that I absolutely love!  If you know this song, you are saying "yassss" right now.  So, there I was driving to work when that song came on the radio.  I immediately turned up the volume and went "all in".  If you can imagine the lady in the car next to you with a serious face, bobbing her head, making hand gestures and looking like she is explaining something really important to someone in a very dramatic way, then you can imagine me.  So when Jekalyn got to the verse that said "everything attached to me wins", I put my hand on my chest and sang it as if my declaration was the final say in winning!  (Sidebar: Person in car next to me slows down to let me pass, because they're not quite sure what is about to happen with the crazy lady.)

If you're like me and have been through enough trials in your life, including a few level 10's, you learn to not care what people think about how you run your race.  You also learn that you have to fight, chase down and declare your own victory.  So there I was, not only determined to win, but also determined that "everything attached to me" would win - my children, my vision, my purpose, etc.  I was declaring my way to a lot of #winning.

Ironically, the same day, I read Psalms 18:29 where David says to God, "With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall."  WhaTTT?!  David sounds crazy like me!  Advance against a troop?  Scale a wall?  David, let's do this!  Clearly, David understood three things: 1) the power God, 2) the power of being attached to God, and, 3) how everything attached to God wins!

My word to you today is simple - no matter how hard things may look, how tempting it may be to let go of what you know is right, or how challenged your faith might be in this very moment, Stay. Attached. To God. and you will win!

Love Always,

Shy