I woke up this morning, and I honestly did not want to get up. It was too early, but the girls were already awake and playing in their rooms. I tried to call to mind all the great things that would happen in the day (if I would just get up) but none of them sounded even remotely great! And guess Who showed up this morning, as John 14 says, “to remind (me) of everything (He) has taught (me)”?
I am finding myself living in John 14-17, ever since Lent. I do not move quickly. I’m trying to memorize these four chapters, because I want them to become a part of me. How I’ve longed for Jesus Himself to be the One to wake me in the morning, talk me down from ledges, give me that pep talk! And He says He is…through His equivalent, the Holy Spirit.
A couple of years ago I had a breakthrough in my heart, right in the middle of a breakdown in my body. At my worst in the adrenal fatigue and sleep disorder, in worship one day, the Lord said, “You are not a slave to what you wake up to.” All in one moment, I understood! My “day”, my attitude, my happiness, was not like a card I was dealt that I had to receive. Sure, I’m dealt a card (by the Lord) but that card is temporal physical realm stuff that does not have to affect or at least not crush the Life inside of me. By the Holy Spirit’s power (translation: when you just utter the words, “Please help me, Holy Spirit, I cannot change myself but I want to have a good day”), we can be steadier than we imagined even though we wake up to a multitude of unsteady possibilities. I’m not a slave to how I feel, physically or emotionally, and I don’t have to go with a negative flow of people around me either.
This is good news for Mrs. Moody over here, who is married to Mr. Moody, and who happen to have two little Miss Moodies, one being adopted which proves it’s not necessarily hereditary, just HUMAN! He is stable…He is our stability. He is happy…He is our happiness. He is creative and energetic and ready for a new day…He is our creativity, energy, and excitement for life. He can do that in us, we just have to ask. He wants to! I believe He PROMISES fullness of life for our inner man, regardless of how the outer man might be failing (2 Corinthians 4:16: We don’t lose heart! Outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.) In all our desire for healing of these earthly physical problems we suffer from in our lives and those we love, I pray we never idolize that restoration more than the kind He clearly, always, longs to give to those who ask.
I can receive no credit for having one of the best, sweetest, memorable days with my daughters today! Morning meditations, Homeschool. playing outside in the water…and feeling that there was no where else I’d rather be and no one I’d rather be with. I can’t create that kind of peace and joy out of what I have to work with. They are the fruits of the Spirit. I wouldn’t write about this if it were an isolated incident. Okay, whoopee, Lyndsay had a good day. No, I’m saying this is pretty much every day of my life! And for that, I say “Thank You, and WELCOME, Holy Spirit!!”
