Jesus’ invitation into obedience every day in our everyday lives is an invitation to live in love, connection, communion, and peace. It is for our good and his glory.

In the middle of the everyday tasks of our day, God is present with us. Every day, he is here. And his invitation is, “Come.”

Do we lean in and look for God, the Creator and Sustainer, or are we too busy to stop and notice that we are always treading on holy ground because God is always with us?  He surrounds us and speaks to us in our everyday moments, inviting us to turn out hearts and minds and attention to him every day. 

So here is what I am inviting you to ponder with me this week as I consider what it looks like to be transformed by faith…

In your life, how is the way you love showing evidence of your faith?

Normally, I’m a pretty tough cookie. My faith is strong and unshakable. In fact, I think I’m actually a little better under pressure. Normally.

We serve a good, good God who is worthy of our praise. It’s our joy to worship him and lift his name high. Not only that, our adoration transforms our hearts. As we thank him, we are changed. Gratitude is stirred up in our hearts and our focus moves off of us and onto the generous and giving God we are praising.

But here’s the thing that confuses me: we think that in order to be more productive, successful, and efficient not a moment of our precious time can be squandered. Believe me, I get that. After all, time is our most valuable resource. The reality, though, is that taking time to sit with the Author, Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of all things is by far the most productive way we could spend our time.

When all we want to do is to just throw our hands up in despair or frustration… That, sweet friend, is the time to hang on to hope with every little bit of strength we can muster. That is the time to cling to the hand of the One who holds every tear and every tomorrow. That is the time to lift our eyes up and seek His loving face because we believe that He is good and He is God. That is the time to remember that the battles rage on, but the war is already won.

I wonder if the same might be true for you? Are you pioneering new spaces? Are you walking on new roads? Are you discovering a new way?

If so, do not discount the beauty of intentional time resting in God’s presence. Look for ways to return to the rest stops where refreshment and renewal are available to you in abundance?

As my heart responded in worship, my perspective shifted. I was overwhelmed with the presence of God, of His sovereignty, of His goodness, of His power, of His care, and of His big-ness. I was reminded that although my feelings of grief and sadness were real, they were in the hands of my loving Father.

The quiet creates space for me to bring my whole self, honest and open, before God.  I can pour out my heart and know He hears me, sees, me, knows me, and loves me beyond measure.  I can process out all the thoughts ping ponging in my brain.  I can share my hurts, my sadness, my joys, my excitement, my struggles, my hopes, and my fears.  As I walk, I know that each step I take, He literally there walking with me.  And in the quiet, I can hear His still, small voice and it changes me from the inside out.

Sweet friend, the truth of this is simple.  Let’s keep our eyes, minds, and hearts turned toward the Light.  Let’s fix our attention there and let God’s loving kindness draw us nearer and nearer.  Let’s bring all of who we are into the Light and let’s let the Light transform us as we grow.

I don’t want to be someone who is ruled by a to-do list or who is a slave to the calendar on their phone. I don’t want the ding of a text message or email alert to set the pace of my day, not do I want to measure a successful day by how much I got done. I want the success of my day to be measured by how well I loved God and how well I loved the people He’s placed in my path.

I’ve always been a little wild and restless. I didn’t know the unforced rhythms of grace either. But as I’ve grown up in the faith some, I realized that there are patterns I can build into my life that help me to settle into life as a beloved daughter of the King. I’ve learned there are rhythms that can help me to stay deeply connected into the family of God.

He wants me to be transformed into someone who lives and loves like Jesus just as much as I want that for myself, more, in fact. But he knows my humanity and He’s aware of my struggles. And He has a plan and a purpose for me, even if I sometimes struggle to follow it as well as I wish I did.

That old rugged cross really is an emblem of suffering and shame. It was the most disgraceful, painful way to be executed and it was reserved for the worst of the worst. But the dearest and best, the King of King and Lord of Lords, chose to take the sin of the world on his innocent shoulders. As a sacrificial act of love, he allowed himself to be brutally slain.

I’ve been trying to carve out a little more time each morning to sit with Jesus and to really enter in to the work I believe He is trying to do as He transforms my heart and my life. This is the daily template or pattern that I’ve been using in my journal each morning as I come to spend time with Him

And I ran triumphantly, and a little wearily, to the tree line. BUT THE WIND STILL BLEW. I wasn’t shielded or protected from it at all. Things were not instantly easier. There was no rest or refreshment, just more of the same wind. And that’s when my personal theology collided with the real world.

The same God who clothed the flowers of the field, sprinkled the stars in the sky, drew boundaries for the seas, and breathed life into dust chooses to make His home in us.

God doesn’t need us, but He chooses to call us out of the mundane into the extraordinary work of the Gospel.