Dani has her days and nights mixed up. She’s driven to finish her degree and excited about the possibilities of life after school, but her brain and body are also fatigued. She feels like sleeping when she’s awake, but can’t quite shut it all off mentally when she’s supposed to be sleeping. Dani has a weary soul. And her weary soul is receiving the call to Wait in the Stillness.
Allen is on the verge of something great. His ministry organization has experienced a funding breakthrough, which has made it possible to launch an entire new division overseas. He’s doing Kingdom work, and for months he has lived at the glorious intersection of waiting and working – where anticipating collides with diligence. So why does this mid-40s man, who is otherwise in such good health, find it so easy to well up with tears for no apparent reason? Allen has a weary soul. And his weary soul is receiving the call to Wait in the Stillness.
Teresa is grateful for the progress. Day in and day out, working with little Pauley, she has seen such growth in her little son with special needs. Compared to this time last year, both of their worlds have dramatically changed for the better. But driving home from the latest meeting with Pauley’s case worker, Teresa catches a heart-glimpse of how far – how very far – her boy and she have to go. And something inside her screams, “Give it up! You’ll never get there.” Teresa has a weary soul. And her weary soul is receiving the call to Wait in the Stillness.
To live in a broken world, teeming with peril and possibilities, is to shoulder a load that defies your own strength. You may look at somebody else’s yoke and feel sorry for them, or feel sorry for yourself. Either way, your own life challenges are enough. And at some point, assuming you care at all, you will find yourself pushing against your own weariness of soul. [click to continue…]
When you’re seven kinds of busy and 21 kinds of tired…
When you’re pulled in so many different directions you need a compass to find the bathroom…
When it’s bedtime and you just remembered that you forgot suppertime…
It’s time for a different tune. It’s time for His song of peace.
When you speak all day with the language of engagement…
When you find yourself panting even while you’re sitting still…
When you’re feeling guilty because you’re not checking something off that stupid list…
It’s time for a different tune. It’s time for His song of peace. [click to continue…]
I’ve been noticing something in me that I don’t like. It’s been around ever since somebody first said “no” to me and I ignored her or him. But lately it’s been strutting around with a vengeance, so I thought I’d expose the big puke for the world to see. So take that, flesh.
I first noticed it in particular when I started reading Watchman Nee’s classic, The Spiritual Man. While I read some really good stuff, I find my mind racing with a torrent of thoughts. Crazy thoughts. Rebellious thoughts. Ugly, fleshly thoughts.
I find it raging sometimes in church when I’m supposed to be the spiritual leader pointing toward Christ and instead I feel this compelling urge to point to me.
I notice it, strangely enough, when I’m with the people I love the most and I’m feeling a flood of emotions that are anything but loving. [click to continue…]
So you want to design a life, not just make a living? You want to experience the sensation of victory, or spiritual power? You want to build something, not just take up space on the planet? You want to say you’ve run your race, won your prize, fulfilled your calling or purpose?
If that doesn’t describe you, don’t waste your time reading any further. Go back to the Food Network or CNN or something.
But if that does describe you, and you believe you were put on this earth to do more than recycle gases and other organic stuff, read on.
In any meaningful endeavor, but particularly in one that involves the fulfillment of a spiritual vision, people (and leaders in particular) are faced with three inescapable questions.
1. Do your actions demonstrate a commitment to that which is most important?
2. Will you continue to move forward, even when surrounded by a hostile or apathetic majority?
3. Where will you look for the internal power to finish the job? [click to continue…]
(Click photo to enlarge)
This is what hurricanes do.
On September 13, this street in Gilchrist, Texas was lined with homes and probably some businesses.
One Ike later, one house still stands.
This, to me, is a symbol of what life can do.
The winds begin to blow, the floods and storm surge begin to rise, and once-beautiful lives turn to random sticks and bricks.
I want to be the last house standing.
I want to be the one who can prevail, even if all others fall to the ferocious winds.
I just don’t want to have to face any storms to prove it.
(Image by David J. Phillip/Getty Images. For more Hurricane Ike images, click here)
Ray Stevens, of “Ahab the Arab” fame, once wrote a gospel song called “Have a Little Talk With Myself.”
A little private conversation
A little self examination
A little attitude correction
A little soul-searching inspection
Start heading in the right direction
Take a little walk – have a little talk with myself.
Can you relate? [click to continue…]
