The joy that doesn't end when the laughter stops and the rest that doesn't fade into chaos when the sun goes down and the realities of chores and life flood in. I love to sit in these temporary moments because I believe that these are little gifts from God. They are little pieces of happiness that we get to touch because he also loves absorbing our laughter and joy. 

We all love to think that this happiness and this sense of rest we find in life doesn't fade and we also like to believe that in some way we are in control of these precious feelings. The reason I want to share this with you is because we all know that those things we like to think are not true. The truth is, that happiness is fleeting and "rest" has become a luxury and is usually something that belongs to someone else. This is a very sad and hopeless view but it has also become the reality of the world we live in. We spend our time reading self-help books and listening to celebrities tell us that we just need to focus on ourselves and these things will come. We need to find our inner happiness and our inner peace and we will be ok. 

Now before you stop reading I want to tell you that this isn't the way it has to be. There is joy and rest out there that is stable and very attainable but it has nothing to do with finding what makes us happy or even slowing down life to give us rest and we have it right at our fingertips. 

So for all of us who are looking for joy when the winter rolls in and those of us who are scraping the sides of the bowl to find a tiny piece of rest, this is my prayer. That we will cling to the truths of God's word and that we would begin to unravel the true meaning of these precious commodities. 

"There are many who say, 'Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!' You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone O Lord, make me dwell in safety."- Psalm 4:6-8

I am very grateful for the life that God has given me. I have a loving and hardworking husband, two healthy kids who are already falling in love with Jesus, a home for them to run free and experience God in a beautiful and natural setting, and so much more. I feel that my "grain and wine abound" but these things are temporary and I have no control over the ups and downs of life. There is loss, brokenness and pain that creeps up in a split second and can wipe these amazing things away. So what is left when that happens? In the hands of God and through his amazing grace and love we can find ourselves in the most trying of times and still be so full of his joy and rest that our heart abounds and we can lie down and rest in safety. 

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."- Matthew 11:28

"So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you."- John 16:22

This is the kind of rest and joy that I want to hold onto. That I will know that in my most laborious times I can and will find rest in Jesus  and in the deepest corners of my sorrow I will rejoice and I can have the full assurance that no one and nothing can take that away. But where does this come from and how can we all have it?

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."-Philippians 4:4-7

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."- 1 Peter 1:6-9

Now this is the part that I find is so cool. While the world tells us to pick up our problems and solve them God tells us to pray and give them to him and then we will find rest and peace. I just get so overwhelmed by that because that is someone who really loves us. Through Jesus Christ and our surrender to him we will find a joy that is "inexpressible" and a "peace...which surpasses all understanding." We find so many reasons to fight God but why would we when we can have this. When all we have to do is let go and let God. When all we have to do is stop trying and just fall into his rest and joy that never ends. 

Now that's what I want and that is what I am so excited to share with all of you! So enjoy your summer days, your children's laughter, the lazy days by the pool and rest in the assurance that even if these things fall away there will be rest and joy waiting with open arms. 

  

Over the past two years or so I'd say I've acquired a reputation among the people who have gotten to know me both on a deep level and as an acquaintance. I've seen my identity in Christ unfold into a woman of boldness and courage who is outgoing and the first to jump into establishing new relationships with other women.

I have to tell you though, this is all very new and exciting for me. I was not this woman that you see. I was insecure, quiet, and you wouldn't catch me in a room full of women if my life depended on it. I had female friendships that typically were hanging on by a thread, based on a very shallow foundation and they usually came one at a time.


The reason why my heart aches to share this with you is because I have been coming into contact with so many women who are terrified of not only pursuing relationships with other women but who are also terrified of being pursued in a meaningful relationship. There are so many good reasons for this fear because so many of us have been burned along the way by at least one woman in our lives. Whether it just started with our own moms or if it was a friend somewhere alone the way. But we have to remember that fear is not from God and that very justifiable fear can very easily keep us at an unsafe distance from God.

"One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." -Proverbs 18:24

We not only need deep friendships but God will give them to us! This word is for each of us, not just the lucky few who fall into these close friendships. But I also believe that we have to put in a little effort. For me I didn't wake up one morning and decide I was going to invest in other women and find close friendships, I prayed and God answered, and he started with just one. The amazing thing about God is that his answers can often come in such abundance that we don't even know what to do with it. After I was blessed with one good friend women started pouring into my life. I felt like God opened the flood gates and all these women and potential friends poured right into my lap. But with this came great responsibility because I had to put my fear aside and become transparent and open to these amazing women. There were and still are days where I have to pray and rely on God to just give me small talk so I can interact but there are days when God equips me so beautifully that I can pour my heart out to these women and grow so closely with them.


I can selfishly sit back and settle into these amazing friendships and I can slide into a cliche so easily and I would be so very happy but I feel very strongly that that isn't the vision God has for our relationships.

"Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." -Colossians 2:7

We are supposed to grow our roots deep into Christ and friendships and relationships are one vital way that this happens but this is a two way thing. I can't just sit in my comfort zone and reep all the benefits of quality friendships. I have a job to reach out and establish these intimate and eternal connections with all of my sisters in Christ so that they can start to build their lives on Christ too.

And this has nothing to do with how shy, outgoing, extroverted, or introverted I am. We are called to be in intimate community with every one and the best part is that God will equip us and empower us for that no matter what our personality tries to tell us.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."- Hebrews 12:1-2

There is freedom from our fear and we can "lay aside" the "weight" of our insecurity and shyness and we can pursue intimacy with other people and we may get burned a lot along the way but look who were are supported and equipped by, "Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Who can stand against us if HE is for us?!

Now this doesn't come without struggle and fear often sneaks up onto us but we are empowered by a mighty God! Jesus didn't walk this earth living out shallow and surface level relationships, he was intimate with everyone and loved everyone so deeply that he died in the most shameful way for us. We aren't even asked to lay down our lives necessarily but we are so afraid to love people that deeply mostly because its scary and hurts sometimes. I am not trivializing the pain that people can inflict on us but  I am saying compared to the pain Jesus faced we should be able to walk this life with confidence and amazing endurance despite the outcome.

This all may seem way too lofty and unattainable and alone it is but our God is faithful and cares so deeply about us and our lives together that if and when we lean on him he will gently guide and help us become more like Jesus so we can be that image to everyone around us.

I challenge you, and I continue to challenge myself, to step away from our fears, our comforts, our excuses, and trust in the mighty hand of God to allow us to touch the hearts of everyone around us in a profound and intimate way.

Dear Jesus,
I thank you so much for the freedom we find in you. I thank you for your call on each of our lives to look and act more like you. I pray that we will seek to do your work in a powerful way. I pray you will equip us to courageously step into the lives of the people around us and to sit at the tables of their hearts and pour ourselves into them. We have the power through you to make other women feel loved, safe, and cherished. But we also so easily make other women feel quite the opposite. Equip and guide us to make them feel the latter. Help us set aside our fears and the weight of who we think we are and help us to cling to the truths of who you say we are. We are mighty and brave and we are a powerful tool for your kingdom. Use us right where we are.

Amen


photo credit: IMG_3727 via photopin (license)
photo credit: Winterlight via photopin (license)
photo credit: Normandy Tree via photopin (license)