“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.” Matthew 11:28-30
For those of us who choose to walk with God, there are times we have our own personal counselling session with our own personal counsellor. You can guess I don't mean the kind with a lower-case "c"...THE Counsellor above the rest. He knows us better than we know ourselves. One could be in so much pain, confusion and despair that there can be no words. We only have to utter one of His names in our hearts for Him to know exactly what is wrong, and what to do. No other counsellor can do what He can. I often think of how much inspiration could be drawn from peeking in on some of these interactions with our Father. Of course, perfect confidentiality is another unique trait of our Counsellor. We keep these things to ourselves...but sometimes, God whispers that He wants us to tell someone. I have found few things to be as powerful as personal testimony. Things have been laid on my heart at one time or another that I have not shared. I'm sure many of us don't speak up, reasoning that surely our personal lives don't matter much in the grand scheme? Maybe fear is the motivation for our silence, or discomfort over speaking about a private matter. If we feel an urging to share a piece of our story, I believe firmly in doing so no matter how irrelevant or awkward we feel it is. Someone can always benefit from seeing God moving in another's life. I'm sharing something like this today. He has spoken these things to me in private moments, and they have added up to one theme. Do I feel this note will reverberate through history and change lives?? No, but maybe someone specific needs to read it. So I write.
God has a plan for everyone. I think it's natural to assume that He works out BIG plans for us occasionally, and the time in between is dead space. How we devalue ourselves thinking this!! When walking with the Lord, every little action can create a positive ripple effect. So many of my fellow believers have affected me powerfully in the smallest ways. Three short sentences of genuine concern and encouragement can shake a person out of a bad cycle of discouragement. The small things are not worthless. They can be as earth-shattering as the stone that killed Goliath. We can each be the person God uses to kill someone else's Goliath by sharing our story or showing simple gestures of love. It would insult Him to think of anything we do as inconsequential. And let's face it...we all cover our backsides with this fib, too. I have had many a bad morning and been a piece of work all day with the best of them, all under the guise that it doesn't REALLY matter. But it surely does. "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."- Colossians 3:17. Maybe someone needs us to reach out through our frustration. In fact, sometimes reaching out during our dark days gives us the Spiritual Codeine we need to lick our wounds and get over that hump. Personally...the Lord is my Tylenol, on account of Codeine makes me physically sick. (I do love a good non-sequitur.) The bottom line here is, none of us knows God's plans. His ways are not our ways. The ultimate statement of faith would be to live each moment of our lives as if He were operating in our every step. He does. He IS!
Who am I to say these things?? As I mentioned, the Lord has spoken them to me- but I have also witnessed them. I have a heart to spread positivity and encourage others. (Here I ignore my occasional hissy-fits giving evidence to the fact that I am, indeed, a Virgo.) I see people as unaware as I have been of how their light is being dulled. It's easy to be deceived into thinking we have no influence...no importance. These are the words of an enemy. And the ammunition takes different forms. Some of us are very unhappy with ourselves for squandered time and opportunity. Others just...can't...seem to get a sense that they're worthwhile from those closest to them; their families. Defeat makes us feel pretty low, too. Wanting to achieve things that always seem just out of your reach can really hurt...and personal tragedy alone is enough to send us to the ash heap. All these and many more keep us from having joy, being the best versions of ourselves that we can be. They make us feel worthless. As one who loves God, I will of course tell you that our greatest mission on this earth is to love others as He does. When we do this, everything else falls into place for ourselves and everyone else. I have seen it, experienced it so many times. Surely God has never moved more powerfully through a person as when He moves through one who approaches others with childlike love and acceptance? I want to point out that "childlike" is much different from "childish". To be childlike implies innocence and simplicity. Who doesn't need to be loved this way?? And how hard is it to love others so fully when we are burdened with the feeling of worthlessness?
I have typed many words in this note, probably far too many. But if nothing else were said in it, I would say that whoever reads this...know that I love you. God loves you more. There is something that sets YOU apart from anyone else reading these words, something wonderful and unique. Don't let anything, or anyone, tell you otherwise, yourself included. Maybe you are in the ash heap. Maybe all you feel is pain over events you can't control, or rejection from the people you need acceptance from. Perhaps all you see when you look in the mirror is someone you don't like. As someone who loves you and has been there, believe what I say. I may not know much about you, I may never have met you. I still know you are full of magic and potential. I hope if you are struggling, you don't allow your light to be dimmed. There's too much for God and the rest of us to lose in not fully loving and being loved by you.
By Hollie Funderburke- Jubb
