Faith Knitted Living

Yesterday on my morning walk instead of talking to the Lord, I set my heart and intentions on listening to what He had to say to me. There was just a flood of thoughts that came to mind as the Lord ministered to my spirit. I have been in a seeking His face season and asking so many questions, and He has been faithful to respond. This world has become crazy pants on every corner and aspect, and I’m daily reminded that the fight isn’t flesh and blood, by is certainly spiritual warfare.

In this journey that I am on, I’ve been walking through an unmaking with the Lord. What I mean by this is that there are definitely many areas in my life where I have just done things on my own, without seeking God first. Unmaking is needed in that area. I’ve served in my own strength, because it was a good or right thing to do instead of seeking the Lord as to where I should be. Unmaking is needed in that area. If we are honest as believers, I think most of us could say we need the unmaking, and rebuilding back to how God intended us to be. Relying on Him for each and every step, instead of trying to make things happen and look like we think they should.

The big picture is hard to see when the little picture is dismissed. The Lord has been reminding me that He left the 99 for the 1. That His pursuit is individually tailored. That we are better together, and that time after time in His Word the large groups gathered dwindled down to smaller groups when the time for action came. That the road less traveled and narrower is His way. It’s harder to disciple multitudes. Discipleship is a personal commitment with intention. It’s coming alongside a person or a couple people and helping them along to show others how to do the same. It’s authentic and it is real, and it is raw.

He has been reminding me that it is time to get in the prayer closet and seek Him first on my face and on my knees. To seek His guidance in every single aspect of life, and HE will show me the way. The who to minister to, the one who needs to be seen. This is an act of surrender on my part, to be willing to trust that His Word is truth, and that the Holy Spirit will direct me. I think if we are all honest, we could say we need the same thing. This is how we reach the world. Through a ripple effect of being so full of what God shows us as individuals that we cannot help but to want to come alongside that one person who seems lonely. That one person who has questions about God and His Word.

This type of walk requires relationship, intentionality, commitment, and doesn’t need to look like the world to be effective. This world has become such a distraction to keep relationships at bay. So caught up in the busyness (family, work, activities, and even church) that we miss the point of being connected. And no, social media and text messages do not count. I am guilty of allowing all the things take over so that my time with God is just something that I fit in, and in turn, I miss out on the opportunities that glorify God and God alone. It’s become culturally counterproductive to be still and wait on the Lord. We hustle and then ask the Lord to bless it instead of waiting on Him beforehand.

I feel the drawing of the Holy Spirit to His quiet place, a separation from operating in my own strength, making my own plans and then praying for God to approve. Perhaps I am not the only one who feels this necessity to surrender myself back to Him and trust in His ways, even when the request is to truly be still and wait on Him to show next steps.

My desire is to be 100% surrendered and on fire for God instead of giving Him scraps of time and life, stretched so thin that nothing I’m doing is remotely effective in the Kingdom. No more. Back to the basics and living for my home which is not this world. Unmaking the things I learned in survival mode of a few decades. Unmaking is hard and it hurts, but man, it is so necessary, and I can feel the chains breaking!!