Just Jesus

I woke up early as I usually do each morning to take our dog for a walk.  It’s my morning routine.

This morning I looked out the window and it was raining. 

The thought of crawling back into bed sounded so good, but I also heard the invitation to stay up and listen.  I go to my sacred space…the time on the porch.

The rain falls steady.  No too hard.  Not just a sprinkle.  But it’s steady with hundreds of drips in harmony that whispers rest…that whispers peace…that whispers refuge.

There’s also the steady cry from a mourning dove.

Is it a cry from God I hear?

Does He mourn because His people have abandoned Him?  Is His heart broken because of the many idols we worship instead of Himself?

He created us to worship Him – just Him. 

But my idol is self…myself. 

The root of all sin.  What I want.  What I need.  It’s instinct.

I know He is a sovereign God and doesn’t need us. But he desires us.  He created people…His children… to love, to father, to be a close friend…a best friend.  To stroll with in the dawn and middle of and dusk of the day.  To linger.  To dwell.

He planted in the core of our hearts our deep desire to be loved…so we will depend on Him for all we need. 

God wants…He desire…..to bless us.

It’s still so hard to understand why He chose to bless me…with the comforts of a family who loves, a safe home, provisions beyond measure… and so easy to take for granted. And it’s not just me…it’s all of us who are blessed.  (Just for example, everyone reading this has a computer, iPad or other electronic device to read this blog!)

As I listened to the rain and sat silent, little did I know that later this day I would be the one who had water dripping down my face that whispered brokenness, whispered heart ache, whispered a mourning cry.

I read Ann Voskamp’s blog posted later today.  She and her son are in Haiti this week with Compassion International.  (Our family supports and loves a girl who lives in Mexico so I especially took an interest in this post.)

It’s a story about Jonathan.  (I recommend reading Jonathan’s story).

“It hit me in the gut”, too.

But the same God who loves Jonathan, loves you and loves me. 

Jonathan’s stomach may be empty and his home a shack, but his heart is full of God’s love and truly has what it means to have hope through Christ.   That’s really all he has.

I have much…much materialism, many people who love me…many comforts.  But it’s so easy to fill my heart and mind with those things…not filling my heart with just Jesus.

Just Jesus.

Jonathan’s favorite story in the Bible is about Noah. 

It reminds me of the dove that brought Noah the branch to show him there is life.

Not a mourning dove…but a dove of hope…a dove of promise.

 

More blessings…

#672  the open ears and hearts our family had about Jonathan’s story

#673  where I am weak, God is strong

#674  the much needed rain

#675  being still and silent except for the sound of rain listening for His Voice.

#676  lollipops in jar at bank

#677  mayonnaise jar which holds the mayo to put on my first fresh-from-the-garden tomato sandwich

#678  jar of popcorn kernels to pour in the pot filled with sizzling oil

#679  two hours family game night