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If you're new to my emails, Welcome! 
 
In my last email, I shared a new idea/vision for the emails from me that land in your inbox. Click here to read about it. 
 
 
It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the end of our journey, He is also at every stopping place.
elisabeth elliot
 
the stopping place of padding, numbing or distracting myself from discomfort
 
With information, my favorite stores and the cushion of materialism at my fingertips, it is no wonder that I had lost a sense of presence. A habit of being fully present… to God, to myself, to the people in front of me.
 
It really is no surprise how challenging it is to pause, to exercise self-control, to give space for God to welcome me, change me, comfort me. I all too often take matters into my own hands, creating my own standard of ‘enough,' doing whatever I can to feel good or okay or satisfied.  
 
When I'm bored, I first crave entertainment.
When I'm sad or tired, I first want food to comfort me.
When I'm restless or discontent, I first want to shop for something new.
When I'm worried, I first take too much stock in having the right ‘stuff.’ 
When I’m insecure, I first turn to busyness and productivity.
 
Only in the past year have I started practicing the. pause
 
And the trust that He is enough for my momentary “need.” 
 
Maybe you can relate, but I used to think it was funny to ask/hope/expect God to be more exciting than new shoes, more satisfying than my favorite meal, more fun than a Netflix episode binge on a Friday night, more settling than completing my to-do list. 
 
But it's not. And He is.
 
I do have to sacrifice though, and sometimes that sacrifice feels costly. 
 
It's the sacrifice of speed… of immediate pleasant, satisfying, comforting warm fuzzies.
 
I have to slow down.
 
Slow down enough to assess what is making me restless or sad or overwhelmed. Slow down enough to make God part of the moment. To ask what He thinks about me, my desire, my struggle. And to give space to actually hear what His response. And to be received, loved and provided for perfectly by Him.
 
What does meeting God in your messy, ordinary, unsettled moment look like?
What would it take for you to make a habit of reorienting yourself to His Voice? 
 
Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:5-8
 
Want to talk more? Hit reply and let's chat!
 
Here if you want to hit ‘reply',
Chels
 
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