As I ran the vacuum this afternoon, I was pondering the fact that I haven’t published a blog post as usual today. Since this is Wednesday, I feel a burden to “get it done”, to “check that box” and not “let God down” on my commitment to be faithful to Him through my blogging. I haven’t been stressed about it per se. But, I do feel a responsibility similar to the keeping of my physical home.
As I often laugh while doing “laundry for the Lord” or “toilets for Jesus” (as quoted by a friend long ago), those thoughts bring a new attitude. When we do what the Lord calls us to, it relieves the burden to a joy . . . a privilege. It’s all for Him!
I grunted in pain to move furniture and clean behind and laughed at my bodily challenges of late. “Shifting for my Shepherd?” Ha! As I continued from room to room, I thought of my daily tasks these days. With now two shedding dogs, daily vacuuming is needed. Add that to my list of daily Bible study (top priority), self-care needs, and any number of things you likewise share in this life, as well.
While trying to age gracefully, I could sit all day and work through Bible study after study – or simply sit and read my Bible or a commentary. It seems that’s all I want to do! Do you get addicted to certain things like that? There’s nothing wrong with being addicted to Bible study, is there? Surely not. But we do need balance.
Some people complain that they are over their head, over-committed, so Bible study is a burden. Do we sometimes fail to create margin in our lives for daily study? Time with the Lord, personal worship time? When we lack the discipline to say “no” to certain things, we can get over-committed. When that happens, we remove ourselves from feeling the blessing of being with the Lord.
God doesn’t want
to be on our to-do list,
to be a burden,
to be a check box on a list,
to be anything other than first priority.
Let Him bless you today by restoring your soul. This verse speaks to me specifically right now in this moment because it has been with me especially for the past two weeks.
Yes, it’s all for His name’s sake. Amen?
My struggle this week with writing today’s post is based on my recent longings. I feel so encouraged by the Spirit to change my format to sharing impromptu what is Spirit-led based on what is Spirit-fed to me personally – on any day of the week. That is completely different from my blogging history.
For weekly spiritual posts, I start writing days earlier and devote time to research for Biblical accuracy what you might be needing in your current tough or triumphant season of life. Since that’s different for everyone, I was basically stabbing in the dark. Also, my posts were getting way too long.
Only God knows your true need. Not that I ever expected to meet all your needs, but the Holy Spirit has perfect discernment of it all. It makes total sense to make this change, and I am at such peace with it now. It took me this entire day to articulate what that means.
Just prior to vacuuming, I completed today’s Bible study lesson, which I usually complete first thing every day. But not today. What was I doing this morning during my usual time with the Lord? Attempting to write a blog post. Yes, I wrote one. But it didn’t feel right. Neither was the post I wrote yesterday ringing truth into my soul. Both posts were truly God’s Word, so that wasn’t the issue. I knew the issue. It was the Spirit factor.
I needed to wait on the Lord. Not rushing in to do it ahead of Him. Not panicking that the box would go unchecked. Not waiting for His words, His leading, left the blessing out of it, so the truthiest truths weren’t relieving the burden to publish.
Today’s study finally hit the nail on the head. Here’s the quote from the study The Final Days of Jesus by Becky Kiser. Relating to the story of Mary in John 12:1-8 when she washed Jesus’ feet with her hair using expensive perfume,
She isn’t trying to do what’s right or fit in,
she is trying to do what tells God she loves Him
the most and brings Him the most honor,
even if she appears like a fool.
So, I will be writing in a way not necessarily “right or popular” and not with a goal of “fitting in with what’s trending”. I will write what shows God I love Him and what brings Him honor. I won’t shy away from something that might seem foolish. If it’s Spirit-led and glorifying to the Lord, that’s all we need. (You and me both.)
And, so this post was written in short order just after my vacuuming revelation – to encourage you to do the next thing without concern for your entire list – whether in your brain or on paper. Just do the thing He first called you to do.
Writing about this vacuuming revelation might seem foolish, but it’s part of what God calls me to do in first-line ministry to my family that’s now pared down to one – hubs. 🙂 If the Lord has called me to it, then it’s my privilege to do it in honor of HIM. He will work out the details for the rest of my day.
I quickly dashed off for church tonight at this point in my writing.. No to-do list there, but it’s been too long since taking part. My soul needs some sister time in worship to the Lord! I’m back home now, and God blessed me with wonderful sister time! Yes, the Lord is more than sufficient to meet our needs for sisterhood. I feel that often when I hear from you in the comments. The sisterhood is my favorite part of blogging!
So, I’ll wrap up by saying you will hear from me in not regular intervals, on not regular regimented days, on not specific topics, but on one thing for sure. By the leading of the Spirit. Won’t that be wondrous?
Because He lives~