Help me

So this morning during my quiet time with God I have to admit it was a bit tough sifting through the clutter in my mind and focusing on Him. Like I said God has had me in a place of "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10) and I've been here for a while. This can be a very challenging place to be because I see from experience that the enemy releases a bombardment of attacks in these times trying to knock us over. 

When I finally was able to clear my earthly thoughts and focus on God and all His goodness He clearly spoke in my spirit Hebrews 13:5b, "I will never leave you or abandon you." Even now this soothes my soul. You see in the midst of the jobs we have, and the serving, the holiday hustle and bustle, and just life in general, it's especially easy to wonder where God is in the middle of all that. I had begin to wonder that myself. This led to some very real and honest time with God in conversation this morning. None of the "Oh Heavenly...thou....thee....forth..." ramblings (aka Church lingo); but a real, and authentic cry from a deep place I didn't even really know was there. And this prayer sounded more like this..."Help me...PLEASE...HELP ME...I don't know what I'm supposed to do next and I feel like you're not even there." This is where I heard Him tell me "I will never leave you or abandon you." It overwhelmed me and comforted me at the same time and it helped me realize something that I had forgotten.

I've seen from talking with others around me that we all feel this and probably more often then we'd care to admit. But why? Why are we so scared to show our weaknesses? Let's just take off the fake-Christian mask and be real for a change. We all deal with things but we like to make it look like we have it all together but up to this point in my life God has shown me time and time again that it's our weakness that His strength is made perfect (2 Cor 12:9). it's our own selfish pride that hinders us from asking for prayer, asking for help, or from being honest with ourselves and God during our prayer time.

Today take some time to be real with yourself and God and just lay it all out there for what it is. Fact of the matter is we're all a mess, we're broken, bruised, dirty and God loves us through all that. This kind of love is able to reach into your deepest wounds and heal them, but God is a gentleman and He will not force himself on you. He waits for you to invite Him into your pain, into your sorrow, into the real you. I can hear Him calling out to you men out there, "I can take that pride from you my Son. You don't need to act like that with your wife." And He's waiting for you women saying, "Sweetheart, come here...I will not hurt you like he did, but you have to let me in." 

The point is that God desires for us to be honest and real with Him as well is ourselves. I find that when I let go of all the Church lingo, put away the "prayer checklist", and just lay it all out there I tend to have more authentic and meaningful times with God.  I pray this encourages you somehow today.

Take Care & God Bless,

-E