 Tis time after a long hiatus to compose a post. On the heels of the Thanksgiving holiday, naturally I am inclined to focus this post on the topic of being thankful. And a photo from a walk that I took Thanksgiving morning stirred an idea... In the cold Midwest midmorning of Thanksgiving, I was surprised to see some long, green grass blades poking up through the snow alongside the lifeless brown ones. Of course I had to snap several pictures. And as I did so I was struck with the thought that even when all that once was vibrant and full of life in nature has became frozen and dead, there is still the promise of new life in spring. In a lifetime, just as in nature, there will be cycles and seasons. Sometimes things must pass away and be let go of, some things may be brought to restoration after a period, and sometimes completely new things suddenly grow. And of course what must die and what will live again, and what seeds will sprout and what will be later reaped, is known only by God until the time comes. And that is where thankfulness and tenacity come in. Psalms 9:1-2 TPT And of course there are a plethora of verses throughout the Bible on thankfulness. But there are two keys that I pulled out of these ones. By the way, I highly recommend reading the entirety of Psalms 92 & 100. Key 1: Thanksgiving and Praise are tied to remembering the good things that God has done in the past for you, and tied to the goodness of God's character in general. Key 2: An attitude of gratitude is like a secret code to open the door into God's presence - which results in peace and joy regardless of circumstances. (See Psalm 16:11, Isaiah 26:3, & Phillipians 4:4-8 listed below at the end) So, if you can stir yourself enough to praise and thank God no matter the situation, and recall how He has shown Himself faithful thus far, then you will be spurred into a resolve to remain steadfast and experience hope, peace and joy in the presence of God. Another way to put it > Thankfulness begets Tenacity, and Tenacity begets Thankfulness. And I know oh so well that this is easier said than done! This has been a long season of testing thankfulness and tenacity for me. I have to very intentionally remind myself of the truth of the verses that I included in this post. So keep going, stay the course, and know there is light ahead. Psalms 16:11 TPT 
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 The most potent truth that I have experienced lately is summed up in the title above: real breakthrough begins with raw surrender. What is raw surrender? Well it is certainly not an easy position to be in. It is allowing every feeling to be felt, being completely honest before God, and then letting go and letting God's hands hold everything. It is being OK with not everything being OK and accepting that not all the questions have immediate answers. It is acting in obedience to God and continuing to worship and praise Him in the midst of waiting desperately for resolution and restoration. It is continuing to contend in prayer and laying still at the feet of Jesus in spite of circumstances. It is humble submission to letting Holy Spirit work in matters of the heart. And as I have found, when the point of true surrender to God is reached, God so graciously releases his healing and redemptive power. And I could go on about this topic, but I shall leave it as this pithy thought for now.   And so December has begun. Though it feels as if Winter has arrived, Autumn is still technically the season. It is a time of T R A N S I T I O N As noted in the post before, it's as though I have been in an Autumn, a transition time, for a longer time than I would like. And I have had to go through a faith-testing process. And as I have discovered in past faith-testing seasons and have rediscovered in this one on a different level, God is patient and present. He is patient enough to put up with my questions and unloading. He is present with His comfort and His assurances when I finally settle down to be aware and listen. One of those times that I stopped wrestling and started resting, I continued the poem that was last posted. The poem now feels complete. Although I very well may edit it at some point as it was done as a free-flow. Here is the poem in its entirety. The *** indicates the continuation point. ~Waiting For The Shift~ And I shall end this post with these Scripture thoughts that have comforted me... Psalms 71:3 TPT  |
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But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect--
life in its fullness until you overflow!
~ Jesus (from John 10:10, TPT)
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All creative content on this site is my work unless otherwise indicated and can only be used with my permission.