by MeredithNMills | Jun 19, 2017 | abiding in Christ, Family, Uncategorized, Walking by Faith
Things are changing around here.
It’s a highlight of every year for me, the writing conference I attended a few weeks ago. I love the drive into the Blue Ridge Mountains. I love the conference center’s picturesque setting. I love connecting with old friends and making new ones. I love learning tools of the trade that help me grow as a writer. Most of all, I love retreating from the noise of daily life and tuning my heart to the still, small voice of God.
This year was particularly good.
After three years of blogging here and a few years contributing to various ministries around the web (Just18Summers, ChristianDevotions, BrokenButPriceless), I’ve decided to write a book. I met with several industry professionals at the conference and pitched my idea. Two agents and a publishing house invited me to send them more information, something they called a proposal.
That sounded like no big deal. Something I could put together in a few days and send off within the week. (Yes, all my seasoned writer friends – I have much to learn!)
Then I looked at a sample proposal from one of those agents.
Turns out, it’s a pretty big deal.
Like 20+ pages talking about the book yet in progress, with lots of research needed ahead of time. I was a bit overwhelmed, but got right to work.
One of the main areas I needed to research was my target audience – those for whom I am writing. As my book is a devotional for mothers, the main readers are moms of babies to preteens, as well as others who spend significant time with kids in that age range – specifically teachers and grandparents.
I posted a survey to Facebook, with 20 getting-to-know-you questions. (If you missed it, you can still take the survey here.) I was thrilled to receive a large response, giving tremendous insight into the hearts and lives of over 80 moms, teachers and grandparents.
Guess what I learned?
We who love little ones have a whole lot in common.
While many described themselves as happy, they also said they’re overwhelmed, anxious, discouraged and exhausted. I totally get that. Nearly every word chosen to “describe your emotions within the last six months” could be used of me, too.
For many of us, though, our weariness goes beyond the physical.
Sometimes I feel my soul is tired.
Maybe it’s our busy schedule. Maybe it’s our constant connectedness on social media. Maybe it’s a lack of true rest during “down time.” Whatever the cause, whatever the life season, it seems we all experience it.
As I’ve pondered this common problem, Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30 once again stand out. “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Can I be honest here? I used to doubt Jesus’ words in that passage. They seemed almost to mock me. My Christian life was anything but restful. And Jesus’ burden light? That wasn’t my experience.
Ironically, when I hit a proverbial wall and my good girl life crumbled, that’s when I found rest. (For the full story, check out Confessions of a Good Girl.) In my broken, burned-out state Jesus pulled me close and showed me His dazzlingly beautiful, gentle and humble heart.
I found rest in the nearness of God. In better understanding His heart of grace. In seeing myself through His eyes and finding acceptance through Christ.
Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me
He taught me that all of life is to be lived from that place of soul rest.
Like two oxen sharing the same yoke, Christianity’s essence is connectedness to Christ. We are participators, but the good works are His. He initiates what He wants done. He empowers us to do it. He produces His fruit in and through us.
What a relief to find it’s not up to me!
Yes, life is exhausting. There are people to serve, families to love, schedules to keep. Our hearts get battered and bruised and sometimes we feel like giving up. Cultivating endurance is no easy task.
But in all our toil, God offers us rest through ever-deepening closeness with Him.
This has become a new theme in my life.
The look here at Dazzled By The Son now spotlights that life change. I’m also going to try a new format for my regular blog posts. Since Jesus is the Source of rest, let’s get to know Him better – together. Let’s take single attributes of God, mull them over, ask questions and share thoughts gleaned from our own study of His Word.
Will you join me?
Comment below if there’s a particular quality of God you’d like to discuss, or if you want to explore how God’s character affects a specific problem or situation. I can’t wait to go deeper with Him – and you!
Related Posts:
Rest for the Restless
On Rest and Quiet Time
What I Learned from the Kid Who Fell Out of the Car
by MeredithNMills | Apr 19, 2015 | Uncategorized
I will never forget the excitement of watching my babies learn to walk. Even knowing the drastic changes that come with a mobile baby, I still coaxed and bribed and urged them to try. And when they took that first step, and those wobbly next few steps, I cheered them on with heartfelt exuberance. Even now, I thrill at the new life “steps” they take…starting school, learning to swim, picking up a new instrument. The going is slow, but there’s value in the process. Never in my wildest dreams would I scold or punish them for falling down as they learn to walk. It wouldn’t cross my mind to reprimand, “Well, that was pretty good, but I really expected something from Chopin, not ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat.'”
Why then, do I suppose God is disappointed with my feeble, faltering attempts to love and follow Him? Why do I see a frowning countenance in my mind’s eye when I think of how my heavenly Father views me? Do I forget that Jesus has a sympathetic heart toward me (Heb 4:15-16)? He knows what it’s like to be human, to be weak, tired, and angry. He knows how it feels to have given to everyone else and not even have time for Himself (Mark 6:31-32). And though He never did, He knows I will sometimes fail (Rom 7:19).
So when I fall down, what is God’s response? Am I a failure in His eyes? Does He expect me to strengthen my resolve and pull myself back up so I can prove to Him I’ll do better next time? I don’t think so. I think He’s there to pick me up, brush me off, and set me on my feet again. In other words, I think this is really all about Him, not me. It is God who works in me, causing my heart and life to line up with who He is (Phil 2:13).
He is forming Christ in me (Gal 4:19). It’s a process. And He is just as concerned with the process as He is with the final product. If His plan was for me to be perfect and sinless now, He would have completely removed my flesh (Rom 7:18-20), or just taken me to heaven once He saved me. The fact that He didn’t do those things is proof to me that this wrestling, this “two steps forward one step back,” is part of His overarching work. It’s how I learn to depend on Him, to live relating to Him rather than independently.
Yes, He wants me to live in victory over sin – He purchased it for me with His blood! He desires for me to choose to follow Him out of a heart of love and worship. But He also wants me to know that I am loved and accepted even when I don’t. He wants me to know that His approval of me is based on Jesus’ righteousness, not mine. My righteousness didn’t earn my salvation, nor will it earn His favor now. He is pleased when He sees Christ being formed in me. He is pleased when, through His Spirit in me, I resist temptation. He is also pleased when, through His Spirit in me, I cry out for help from the mire I’ve fallen back into.
And that, my friend, is my new definition of success. Cooperating with Him as He forms Jesus in me. Learning from Him. Surrendering to His leading. Letting Him express Himself through me. Progress, not perfection.
So what does this look like in my daily life? Maybe it means a day spent fighting for joy, instead of surrendering to discouragement or weariness, is a day well spent. Maybe it means time spent with my kids is not wasted, though the house is a mess and we picked up pizza for dinner. Maybe it means doing a “home date” with hubby once the kids are in bed is the better choice, rather than “doing something productive.” Maybe it means that just getting one room cleaned (and being okay with the fact that it will be messy tomorrow!) is good enough. Maybe it means He’s pleased when I walk with Him through the day, even when I couldn’t drag myself out of bed for a long “quiet time.”
Ultimately, success may not always look like success to us. Our hearts may condemn us as failures. But God is greater than our hearts (1 Jn 3:20). He has declared that there is no condemnation for those of us who are “in Christ” (Rom 8:1). When our hearts, or the opinions of others, declare us to be failures, we would do well to consider these questions: Whose approval am I defined by (Col 2:13-14)? Is my life centered upon Jesus (1 Cor 3:11)? Am I progressively becoming more like Christ? (Rom 8:29). These things lie at the heart of true success. They make all the difference in God’s eyes.
The apostle Paul was a highly successful Israelite religious leader. But a life-altering encounter with Jesus changed his definition of success. He gave up everything, was imprisoned for Christ, and ultimately died as a martyr. Not too successful, humanly speaking. But this was his testimony. “…I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil 3:8-9).
So what’s your definition of success? Please feel free to comment – I’d love to hear your thoughts!
