***
Hello, Sweet Readers! I am happy to tell you that I'm finally beginning to feel a bit more like myself and believing that a return of energy and drive is following close behind! Here's to a New Season unfolding and Hope arising around the Edges!
This is a Five Minute Friday post... which simply means I set a timer
and free write for five minutes flat on the one-word prompt: SEARCH
{GO!}
I see the word and I let my mind drift...
It can feel like these seasons of
wandering in the wilderness
are all Search and Seeking
with no Finding...
--with no Being Found.
But as soon as I think this,
I can feel that this thought--
--it doesn't fit. It's not true.
I can testify firsthand as we are Turning the Corner
and finding Hope around the Edges of a New Season...
All the searching for answers... for a glimpse of the future...
for whatever is Next and Right and Good...
--Well, He didn't answer the way we wanted.
But He did answer the way we needed!
He's good like that!
But I promise you...
it doesn't always feel good!
What we needed, apparently,
was a little space and time.
A little room to breathe,
to heal, and to search, yes.
We needed to search
-but not for answers or explanations.
No... He lovingly tells me again and again
He doesn't answer to me...
I'm not the Boss of Him!
And (mostly) I'm so grateful for that truth!
We needed to search within...
to look at ourselves and each other...
to catch our breath and hold our hearts
and to remind each other of truth that we know.
The wilderness is hard...
It can make a Survivor out of you...
however, the goal is to reveal a
Son or Daughter instead.
His Love beckons us to slow... to savor...
to search for the Truth
that is Hidden in our Hearts.
He calls us to Dig Deep in His Word
and to Wrap our Arms around His Grace...
to Put it on and Wear it with
Boldness and Beauty!
To call out to Him when we are battling
against the wind and the waves...
He still calms the storms inside and outside...
He still knows the way out of and the way into
the wilderness you may find yourself in...
(Hint: He IS the way out and the way in!)
His Spirit dwells within us...
and while we may feel like He is far away,
He never ever is!
While we may choose to try
to hold Him at arm's length,
well - He'll allow it --even though
He knows it's just not possible!
The way out is IN...
The way up is DOWN...
The way to search and to seek
and to finally find
what you're looking for
is to give up the WHAT
and turn to the WHO...
"Jesus, it's always been You!"
Be With Me, Bryan & Katie Torwalt
{STOP!}
The wilderness is spread out before every one of us,
usually more than once in our lifetime!
We can come to expect it without dreading it
because we know Jesus Himself
traveled through the wilderness...
and He overcame.
He is our guide and example and
He is the One we are after...
more than answers or reasons
or clearly drawn out plans of action...
His Love is enough, right?
We just want Him to be with us --and He is!
He is with us on the Mountain Tops and in the Valleys...
He is with us in the Wilderness
--it just FEELS like we are all alone!
(I'm sure he felt that lie while stumbling through dry and barren land, too!)
But here's the thing:
He IS with us...
and He is wanting us
to search for truth...
to search for Emmanuel
even more than we search
for Explanations!
It says in Proverbs 25:2 that
"God conceals the revelation of his word in the hiding place of his glory. But the honor of kings is revealed by how they thoroughly search out the deeper meaning of all that God says."
Who knew that sometimes
the hiding place of His Glory
is actually in the midst
of the Wilderness...
It is sometimes in the middle of
our Winter season where things
look bleak and hope feels far away...
but His example in the wilderness
shows us to press into the Word of God...
and to not lose sight of who He is...
--of Who and Whose we are...
So let us not waste our Wilderness Seasons...
Let us dig in deep and trust that He is near...
Let us cry out praises and, with boldness,
let us remember to Ask and Seek and Knock...
Because...
Something about
Ask and it will be Given to you...
Seek and you will Find...
Knock and the Door will be Opened...
Something about
"For every persistent one
will get what he asks for.
Every persistent seeker will
discover what he longs for.
And everyone who knocks
persistently will one day
find an open door."
~Matt 7:8 TPT
In the footnotes of my Passion Translation Bible, it states:
Clement of Alexandria attributes an additional saying to Jesus and states that it is from the Hebrew Matthew: “The one who seeks should not cease until he finds, and in finding he shall marvel, and having marveled he shall reign, and having reigned he shall rest.”
The end goal in searching...
in seeking & finding...
it's always been communion
with our Father...
it's always been about
finding His glory &
entering into His rest!
Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today. Five Minute Fridays give us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say about "SEARCH"
The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk about food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second-guess it all away. We'd love to have you join us!
Photos courtesy of Unsplash via Annie Spratt
I'm also linking up with the lovely writer community linked below:
Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday
This is a Five Minute Friday post... which simply means I set a timer
I see the word and I let my mind drift...
It can feel like these seasons of
wandering in the wilderness
are all Search and Seeking
with no Finding...
--with no Being Found.
But as soon as I think this,
I can feel that this thought--
--it doesn't fit. It's not true.
I can testify firsthand as we are Turning the Corner
and finding Hope around the Edges of a New Season...
All the searching for answers... for a glimpse of the future...
for whatever is Next and Right and Good...
--Well, He didn't answer the way we wanted.
--Well, He didn't answer the way we wanted.
But He did answer the way we needed!
But I promise you...
it doesn't always feel good!
What we needed, apparently,
was a little space and time.
A little room to breathe,
to heal, and to search, yes.
We needed to search
-but not for answers or explanations.
No... He lovingly tells me again and again
He doesn't answer to me...
I'm not the Boss of Him!
And (mostly) I'm so grateful for that truth!
We needed to search within...
to look at ourselves and each other...
to catch our breath and hold our hearts
and to remind each other of truth that we know.
The wilderness is hard...
It can make a Survivor out of you...
however, the goal is to reveal a
Son or Daughter instead.
His Love beckons us to slow... to savor...
to search for the Truth
that is Hidden in our Hearts.
He calls us to Dig Deep in His Word
and to Wrap our Arms around His Grace...
to Put it on and Wear it with
Boldness and Beauty!
To call out to Him when we are battling
against the wind and the waves...
He still calms the storms inside and outside...
He still knows the way out of and the way into
the wilderness you may find yourself in...
(Hint: He IS the way out and the way in!)
His Spirit dwells within us...
and while we may feel like He is far away,
He never ever is!
While we may choose to try
to hold Him at arm's length,
well - He'll allow it --even though
He knows it's just not possible!
The way out is IN...
The way up is DOWN...
The way to search and to seek
and to finally find
what you're looking for
is to give up the WHAT
and turn to the WHO...
"Jesus, it's always been You!"
Be With Me, Bryan & Katie Torwalt
The wilderness is spread out before every one of us,
usually more than once in our lifetime!
We can come to expect it without dreading it
because we know Jesus Himself
traveled through the wilderness...
and He overcame.
He is our guide and example and
He is the One we are after...
more than answers or reasons
or clearly drawn out plans of action...
His Love is enough, right? We just want Him to be with us --and He is!
He is with us on the Mountain Tops and in the Valleys...
He is with us in the Wilderness
--it just FEELS like we are all alone!
(I'm sure he felt that lie while stumbling through dry and barren land, too!)
But here's the thing:
He IS with us...
and He is wanting us
to search for truth...
to search for Emmanuel
even more than we search
for Explanations!
"God conceals the revelation of his word in the hiding place of his glory. But the honor of kings is revealed by how they thoroughly search out the deeper meaning of all that God says."Who knew that sometimes
the hiding place of His Glory
is actually in the midst
of the Wilderness...
It is sometimes in the middle of
our Winter season where things
look bleak and hope feels far away...
but His example in the wilderness
shows us to press into the Word of God...
and to not lose sight of who He is...
--of Who and Whose we are...
So let us not waste our Wilderness Seasons...
Let us dig in deep and trust that He is near...
Let us cry out praises and, with boldness,
let us remember to Ask and Seek and Knock...
Because...
Something about
Ask and it will be Given to you...
Seek and you will Find...
Knock and the Door will be Opened...
Something about
"For every persistent onewill get what he asks for.
Every persistent seeker will
discover what he longs for.
And everyone who knocks
persistently will one day
find an open door."
~Matt 7:8 TPT
In the footnotes of my Passion Translation Bible, it states:
Clement of Alexandria attributes an additional saying to Jesus and states that it is from the Hebrew Matthew: “The one who seeks should not cease until he finds, and in finding he shall marvel, and having marveled he shall reign, and having reigned he shall rest.”
The end goal in searching...
in seeking & finding...
it's always been communion
with our Father...
it's always been about
finding His glory &
entering into His rest!
Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today. Five Minute Fridays give us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say about "SEARCH"
The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk about food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the Photos courtesy of Unsplash via Annie Spratt
I'm also linking up with the lovely writer community linked below:
Crystal Twaddell for #FreshMarketFriday
Beautiful post, dear Karrilee. I'm grateful God gives us what we need. Wilderness experiences aren't fun, but I'm learning they are necessary.
ReplyDeleteBlessings ~ Wendy Mac
Dang it... right? Turns out they really ARE necessary! Thank goodness, He walks those barren lands WITH us! He leads us in and He leads us out!
DeleteThanks so much for stopping by, Wendy!
I loved this line: Who knew that sometimes the hiding place of His Glory is actually in the midst of the Wilderness...
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Thanks so much, Ashley! I don't know about you --but for me? I tend to think I will find His Glory at the Mountain top... and surely - it is there... but most often it is when I actually need it the most and --it turns out-- that is over and over in the midst of a wilderness!
DeletePraying we all discover the hiding places of His Glory --in every season of our lives!
Amen! It seems to me that it wasn't a coincidence that the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years! Jesus truly is the way, the truth and the life!
ReplyDeleteExactly! Thanks so much for stopping by, friend!
Deletexoxo