Your Face Reflects What You Are Facing

The other day, our pastor made a statement that struck a deep cord within. He said,

“Your face reflects what you are facing.” He went on to say that if the eyes are windows to the soul, then our face must be the doorway. Love it. It reminded me of the face of Moses when he came down from the mountaintop after meeting with the Lord. He made the long trek to the mountain’s peak in order to meet face to face with God, to seek His will, His wisdom and His ways…and when Moses finally came down, he was completely unaware that his face was radiant with the peace and glorious presence of Almighty God. Exodus 34:29 The radiant peace and presence was not contrived by Moses’s sheer will to work out the problem before him…it was simply a result of humbly placing himself at the feet of God the Father to receive all that His Father would offer. I sometimes wonder what was going on in Moses’s heart as he arrived to the mountain’s peak, exhausted from the long trek. Maybe he turned around and looked long and hard at the valley filled with the countless number of the sons and daughters of Israel. Then, with his back turned to the Father, he breathlessly proclaims, “Lord! I am exhausted! You cannot imagine how stubborn are the hearts of your people! 😬The position you have placed me in is beyond bearable - I do not have the strength, the wisdom and the where-with-all to oversee the multitudes of people at the foot of the mountain! Circumstances are hard and I just don’t know what to do!!!” I then picture the Father, grasping Moses’s chin, turning the face of his servant from the problems of the valley to the magnificent, radiant face of the Father on the mountaintop. Patiently, the Father locks eyes with Moses and replies with this: “Exactly, my son. That is the point…” I don’t know about you, but It is so easy for me to face the valley of troubles that present themselves before me and I immediately begin to pull up the figurative bootstraps, trying to research and plan my way out of it, forgetting Whose I am, a daughter of the King, and that He has and will continue to fully equip me to carry out His calling on my life - as wife, mother, daughter, counselor, cook, cleaner… On so many occasions, I awaken and begin to ponder the day ahead…all that is before me, so much that is out of my hands. I essentially remain in the valley of trouble, facing circumstantial evidence that causes me to shake in my shoes, and my face slowly begins to reflect the difficulties before me - in essence, I allow the difficulties to tempt me to become difficult. Impatience nestles up beside me, fear begins to enshroud me, and suddenly the darkness in my heart creeps up to my face, which unbeknownst to me, has become withdrawn, dark and downcast. Talk about exhausting! Not only are the circumstances burdensome, but now I’ve allowed the circumstantial evidence before me become the only foundation on which to place my mind, will and emotions. Yikes! And yet, I have also found time and again that if I follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to make what seems like a painstaking trek to the mountaintop by creating the time and space in my day to approach the Father for some FaceTime, I suddenly find my heart infiltrated with His comfort and love, and, almost imperceptibly, my face becomes radiant with His peace, His love and His glory. Just like the picture of Moses on the mountaintop with God the Father, I picture the Father grasping my chin, locking His gaze with mine, and gently whispering this, “My daughter, when you fix your gaze on the valley of problems before you, your heart is darkened and your face becomes downcast. Self sufficiency allows no room for my radiant glory. And yet when you choose to make a way to the mountaintop with Me, even though nothing may change in your circumstances, everything changes within your heart, and just like Moses, your face will become radiant with My peace, with My Presence, and with My glory…” The tenderness of that visual almost makes me teary. Oh, that I would follow when the Holy Spirit gently nudges me to fix my gaze on the heavenly Presence of the Father when the things of this earth begin to falter and fail. “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on you because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3

#bestill #peace #seekfirst

Prescription to Push Pause

"Be still and know that I am God..." Psalm 46:10

Last night my mom showed me an old-fashioned alarm clock that was my Great Aunt Anne’s, (my secret namesake as my middle name is Dianne. 😉 ) I loved my Great Aunt Anne - she was like a mama to my own mom…she never had children, but I think the Lord allowed a special bond between the two in order to fill a void each felt.

Born in 1906, Aunt Anne came to age in an era where wearing pants for a woman was just, “no”, and yet she did. Traveling across the country on a train by herself was also just, “no”, and yet she did. I loved her. She was a pioneering trail-blazer who was born well before her time and yet she always had time to sit and be still with you…So as my mom shared the stories behind her old alarm clock, I was also thankful for the, “be still moment” with her 🙂 My mom and I have the privilege of sharing an office, serving side by side at the school my husband and I helped co-create seven years ago this January. I love serving there and yet I know my flesh tendency is to NOT be still. Leading up to our week-long Thanksgiving break I had been burning the candle at both ends…staying up WAY past my usual bedtime only to awaken the next morning at 4:45 a.m. to go workout with my husband. I hadn’t chosen many, “still moments” with my mom, and my quiet moments with the Lord became shorter and shorter until I finally brought my Bible to work one morning hoping to sit and soak during a brief lunch break, but even lunch was pushed to the back burner that day… All that to say, I started to feel not-so-awesome last Saturday, and then Monday I was hit full force with some bout of sickness, causing me to pause in my tracks and spend the next three fever-filled days secluded in my darkened bedroom, missing my youngest son’s 16th birthday celebration. 😷😔 Such a tremendous miss on my part that didn’t need to happen had I only taken the time to pause…

pausing to rest, pausing to refuel my body, pausing to spend still moments with my mama, and maybe most importantly,

pausing to simply, “Be Still” with my loving God who desires relationship above any sort of religion or rules of doing.

It is of no surprise to me that at 2:00 a.m. this morning, the Lord gently nudged me awake with this simple phrase,

Literally stop. 🛑

I rubbed my eyes a bit and whispered, “Wait, what, Lord? Literally stop what?” I felt like He replied with the sweetest correction and encouragement that only a Father could offer. To be honest, it felt like a sort of, “Prescription to Push Pause”. When I looked up the word, “prescription”, I discovered that it means, "to write before." That made me smile because the next thing He whispered was just that, a word spoken before the day even began instructing me to pause.. He replied to my question with this:

My beloved, stop and let the morning start without you...

I will say this again because I am sure that these words are a shock to your system: Stop and let the morning start without you... Be still in My Presence and let the cadence of these pausing moments set the rhythm of your day. You might find it refreshingly peculiar how these “late starts” actually place you ahead, all because of your decision to follow Me into a place of rest even before the race begins... Yes, my beloved, be still with Me and know that I AM God. I AM Father Time. Time acquiesces to my bidding, willing to speed ten steps forward or fall ten steps behind simply at my command. Yes, even time will pause for Me. When you choose to be still with Me, you will have the opportunity to watch Me work this same miracle in your life. Test Me and see that I AM a good Father whom you can take at My Word. The few fleeting moments you choose to reside in my royal Presence will return to you with great dividends! Watch with great anticipation as I

multiply your minutes,

increase your ingenuity

and cover you with my creativity

simply because you have chosen to let the day start without you, seeking instead the peace of my loving Presence.

I AM your Father who loves you. I AM The One Who Knows Best. I AM ever with you. Keep stride with Me alone, letting Me set the rhythm of your heart and the cadence of your day.

Be still and know that I AM God.

Receive my Prescription to Push Pause. I AM giving you permission. Breathe in the peace of my living and loving Presence. Be filled with all of Me in the pause and watch the Prince of Peace lead you, cover you and follow in your wake. Signed, Your Father who loves you enough to prescribe you to be still and is willing to bend time for your favor

May this be a sweet word of encouragement that speaks to you during this wonderful (and potentially busy) time of year. May you take a moment each day to pause with the Prince of Peace so that His Peace might also lead you, cover you and follow in your wake!

Psalm 46:10; Isaiah 41:10; Isaiah 38:8; Joshua 10:13

I have included this particular link to, "Prince of Peace" by Hillsong, as it is sung live on the steps of the Temple Mount. It is an incredible soaking song whose lyrics usher the listener into the peace-filled presence of the Lord.

#pause #bestill #seekfirst #peace

The Cloudiness of the Middle Moment: Remembering the Who Behind the Hidden How

Don’t leave Jerusalem, but wait here until you receive the gift I told you about,

the gift the Father has promised…the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:4~5

As I began my day today with clouds and rain looming overhead, I recalled a conversation that unfolded last night when our small group read a small portion of Acts 1. After we were done taking turns reading aloud, the question was asked, “Is there anything that didn’t sit well with you?”

Ok, that was probably not the exact question, but that’s the gist, because I instantly knew what didn't sit well, or perhaps better yet, what really resonated but also caused feelings of yuck…

We had just finished reading how Jesus had appeared to his disciples at least 11 times over a 40 day period AFTER he was crucified.

The Passion Translation says that number 40 is significant as it speaks of transformation and completeness THROUGH testing – like the 40 days and nights of deluge that Noah withstood as he waited for it to abate, or the 40 days Elijah fasted, or the 40 days that Jesus was tested at the beginning of His ministry.

Now here He was, at the end of His physical-presence ministry on earth, spending another 40 days with the ones who would become His witnesses, walking with them as, “Jesus Emmanuel" during THEIR time of transformation and completeness through testing.

What is fascinating to me, and what just didn’t sit well with me at small group, was how the 40 days came to a crashing close. Jesus was literally standing within the visible presence of His disciples as their Savior, their Protector, Their Once and Future King, when suddenly, “a cloud came up under him and took him from their sight.” Like he didn’t suddenly rise up into the atmosphere before them - the Aramaic translation says, “a cloud accepted Him and covered Him from their eyes.”

Their Savior,

their King,

and their Hope,

was suddenly hidden in a cloud.

Verse 10 says that the disciples then stared intently into the sky…that very moment resonates and yet causes a great dissonance within my spirit. I can almost hear a musical score of discord clamoring in the background as they panicked and pondered,

"Wait, what? He’s gone?!

My Savior?

My Protector?

My King? My Hope is gone?

Lord, not only did I mourn you once on the cross, but now You cause me to mourn you for a second time and this time I am left with a greater cloud of confusion.

Where are you, Lord?

Where did you go?

Oh, where is my Hope and my King?!”

I have been in this place of quandary during several seasons of following Jesus…when the very thing I thought was the answer or the path before me suddenly became enshrouded in a cloud…I can SO identify with the disciples' confusion. I mean, I believe He is who He says He is and I have even witnessed His miraculous hand on my life, and yet that belief is challenged when I cannot connect the dots to the, “How in the world will I get out of this mess or this emotion or this hardship?”

And then suddenly, in this cloudy middle moment, the disciples surrender...

Rather than believing because they can CLEARLY SEE HOW things will happen,

their belief transitions to faith

when they REMEMBER the WHO BEHIND the HIDDEN HOW...

So in full faith, they leave the last place they physically saw Jesus, the Who behind the hidden hows they faced, choosing to heed His parting words when He said to remain in Jerusalem until they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Counselor, the Guide, the Revealer of Truth, and the very Spirit of our God and King!

When things are cloudy and we cannot see the way out, how important is it to remember Jesus and, with a surrendered heart, to heed His parting words, “to remain”…

• Remain until the Holy Spirit, our Comforter offers sweet comfort.

• Remain until our Counselor offers discerning counsel.

• Remain until our Guide shows us the way forward.

• Remain until the Revealer reveals His Truth to our hearts.

• Yes, remain until the Spirit of our Living God and King anchors our anxious thoughts with the sudden remembrance that His very residence is the temple within!

Oh, Father,

We cry out to you...as we face the cloudiness that today brings, help us to remember that the Holy Spirit IS the Deposit of Jesus Emmanuel, God With Us. Yes, when we are walking through the cloudy middle moments of life, help us to remember the Who behind the hidden hows ahead...help us to choose to remain in the peace of Jesus, help our hearts and minds to be still humbly surrendered in the Shadow of Your Protective Wings, and Holy Spirit, comfort our hearts, helping us to have ears to hear and eyes to see when You whisper, “…this is the way, walk in it.”

---

As I penned the post above, the song below began playing on Spoitfy. The melody so ministered to my heart, that I downloaded it and set it to repeat...over and over again it played and as it did, I could pictured the disciples, "looking intently into the sky" right after Jesus was consumed in the cloud, proclaiming these lyrics with full faith in their hearts ...

Hear the Word, roaring as thunder With a new, future to tell For the dry, season is over There is a cloud, beginning to swell

To the skies, heavy with blessing Lift your eyes, offer your heart Jesus Christ, opened the heavens Now we receive, the Spirit of God...

There Is a Cloud

Elevation Worship

#peace #uncertainty #bestill #remain #faith