Seasons: Keep Shoveling

Seasons

“Keep shoveling.”

It’s a hard thing to hear. We are so prone to associating our value with what we are doing. Downtimes with the Lord are hard. It is much easier to see the reward on eternity’s side when sweat is running off our brow, so to speak.

Of Abraham, Romans says that if he was justified by works then he had something to boast about (Romans 4:2). Justification through works is embedded within the human nature. We feel value when we are doing something. We feel justified. We can even myopically look at the scriptures to elevate self-worth through works. I think most of us wrestle with feeling of worthlessness when we aren’t saddled.

Seasons of downtime come. They are beneficial. They give us a break: a needed break. We need our Sabbaths. Not out of a legalistic regiment, rather a sigh—a deep breath—for the soul. Not only are they so, but these breaks have other more important benefits. They tap deep places of our soul; places where important God questions bubble from. These questions lead to clarified vision. But the most important reason for these God-imposed downtimes is that they reorient our spirit that we are justified by Jesus Christ apart from works. And this dear reader anchors our soul.

Recently I have been forced into one of His God-imposed Sabbaths. Daily routines: laundry, dinners, washing the dog, grocery shopping, and cleaning up after my horses was about it for me. I get quite a bit of communion with the Lord and a ton of scripture since I listen to teaching and the Bible virtually all day—such a wonderful blessing. One day while cleaning my horses’ paddock, I was talking to the Lord. “Lord,” I said “What am I supposed to be doing?” His response was clear, “Keep shoveling.” It hit me like a splash of cold water in a warm shower. I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. I was shoveling horse manure. I was pleasing Him.

Enjoy your downtimes. 

Let those deep God questions bubble out of your soul. 

Commune with Him

…and keep shoveling.

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Carry the Torch

Carry the Torch

You used to carry the torch as you ran to the heart of God. Your heart was on fire. You burned with passion for the Lord and for His friendship. You couldn’t wait for the next meeting where you and those around you would together experience the Presence of God. And yet, your closet was your favorite place, just you and Him Face to face.

Photo credits: Aziz Acharki

Now those days are but a glimpse in the rear-view mirror. You are in a different season. Your friends have changed. The reflection in the mirror has changed. Maybe you are in your 50s or 60s or 70s now. You are still devoted to God and deep inside you still have a flame. You still love Him, His Presence, and His fellowship, but where is the fire? As you read this, your heart yearns and longs for His courts as King David longed... 

because you remember. 

You know who you are. You know you are a lover of God. But as time has passed your oil has burned elsewhere rather than to stoke the fire of God within you. Some have made this great exchange—the beauty of God, His Fire, His manifestation, and His closeness for the familiar and the easy. Having eyes like Eli’s, dim and cloudy, eyes that no longer clearly see.

Sure you experience His Presence from time to time when you make time for “behind the closed door.” Or maybe it's just that you only remember when you experienced Him. You know there is more, because you have experienced Him and you know what you experienced was real. It forever changed you. You remember getting touched by God's fire and you watched as your friends did too. You also know that now your meetings are a far cry from the call of the Lord for His church. Where is the Fire of God that used to be in those meetings? Would those around you even understand it you burned for Him again? If this is speaking to you, here is a word from the Lord for you.

Burn anyway.

Carry the torch of the Holy Spirit’s fire anyway.

Pay the price,

and...  
Burn.

Win those around you.

They will see. They can’t help but see. They will want His fire too.

And even if they don’t…

Burn anyway.

Run the race.

As hot as you can for Him,

Until your last breath.

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