I Know I Am Loved By The King...

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

• During my best moments I feel God the Father speaking to me His affirmation and encouragement, "Go Daughter, you know what to do, I've taught you, and I'm right here with you." 
• Some of my worst moments come when I feel stuck not knowing what in the world Jesus wants me to do next. Not hearing clear directions from Christ is lonely and at times downright frightening.
• Many times I listen to the Holy Spirit, try to act accordantly, and the results are often less than "successful" by the world's standards. What's up with that Lord? Who am I doing this for?

As I ponder those three ways I experience God, I'm working through a Bible study on the Psalms of Ascent. Beth Moore said a couple of things in the intro video that have stuck with me. She reminded us, "We ain't stayin' here." She asked us to, "Come hungry."

The truth is, as real and as hard as our issues are in the present...we ain't stayin' here. If we choose to move on with God...we will. As much as I want to go to the next place with God, it's amazing how wrapped up I become in my everyday earthly troubles. Especially at certain times of the month...ugggh. TMI. If I play the comparison game (which we shouldn't-but I really need to in order to make this point) I know that the things that weigh heavy on my heart might seem inconsequential to the next person. Our passions, pasts, and present problems vary. Just as God asks us not to create a hierarchy of sins, so must we refrain from hiding our "unimportant" prayer requests. It all matters. Finding a safe place to share our hurts, disappointments, and suffering is crucial to our life in the body of Christ.

We can also in essence shoot ourselves in the proverbial foot. Taking that next step with God might make us painfully vulnerable. Staying where we are, although not ideal, is strangely more comfortable. Stepping up leaves us exposed and requires that we let God conform us more and more to the image of Christ. Christ who suffered.

Moving on.... when I first heard Beth Moore say, "come hungry" tears welled up in my eyes. It was an instantaneous reaction in the depth my soul. Perhaps you and I are so exhausted by the everyday earthly troubles that we can't even venture to think about what it means to "come hungry." Making it through takes precedence over praise. We focus on the daily not the Deliverer. I'm imagining a person with their eyes and nose just barely above the surface and underneath the murky water their arms and legs are flailing wildly just to keep them afloat. They might be starving, but the energy that it would take to paddle to shore, sit down, and eat is simply overwhelming.

So how do we "come hungry?" How can we offer one another a meal in the middle of a muddy swamp? How do we assure one another that we "ain't stayin' here" without sounding trite? How do we speak hope to one another and remember that no matter what we hear, whatever the results, we are dearly loved?