Renewal

-

Psalm 19:7-9 ~

The instruction of the Lord is perfect, 
renewing one’s life;
the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy,
making the inexperienced wise.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
making the heart glad;
the command of the Lord is radiant,
making the eyes light up.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are reliable
and altogether righteous.


I feel like the Lord has been taking me on a journey of self-discovery the past few years that has been painful and yet, healing. Everything I rely on in my life has been stripped away and the mirror into my soul has been thrown wide open.

And in that mirror He is revealing deep wounds, ugly truths, and areas of my life that I've kept hidden. It's a painful process and each time I think those wounds are healed something new pops up which causes a chain reaction of emotions and ugliness that I need to take back to God. 

As I was reading this morning, I came across these verses in Psalm 19. Even though this process has been painful and continues to be so, I know that God's teaching and instruction brings about restoration and renewal. When I allow Him to lay bare those ugly and broken spaces of my life, healing begins to happen. When I make myself vulnerable and open to HIs instruction, I become stronger because I'm allowing Him to work in me and I'm no longer relying on myself. 

So many of us have a "pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps" mentality that carries over into our Christian walk. We think that sheer willpower will help us become spiritually mature. The reality is that it takes a different approach. It takes humility and honesty and submission to the Holy Spirit. It means that we have to be willing to let the Lord work in those broken parts of our life that we've tried to keep hidden.

When we allow the process of the Lord's instruction to happen, we can see from these verses that there is restoration, there is wisdom and there is joy.

Allow God to begin to work in those broken spaces of your life. Healing comes through the pain of God's instruction.

Comments

  1. ConniOctober 5, 2022 at 4:24 PM

    BEAUTIFUL crafted, Terri…… Thank you for sharing the pain with the Praise!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love your comments and encouragement! I can't always respond back but do read each comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Oh What to Do; I'm Sixty-Two!

-
Image
Today is my sixty-second birthday and it's hard to believe I've achieved that....um....seasoned age! My first thought this morning was one of not being sure that I like it. However,  as I thought I about it, I decided to take joy in the fact that I've reached an older age. Because age comes with benefits. Benefit #1 - I'm a bit wiser.   When I look back at some of the decisions I made when I was younger, I cringe. With age has come the ability to slow down and think things through before I make major upheavals in my life. I've also discovered that getting worked up about certain things is just an absolute waste of emotional energy. Benefit #2 - I'm enjoying my life.   As I've aged I've learned all kinds of skills and hobbies and can honestly say that I'm never, ever bored. I love all the different things I'm able to do and it's fun! Benefit #3 - I've learned to appreciate my relationships. With age I've learned to work on developing a...
Read more

Eating to Live

-
Image
  Despite the unexpected busyness and interruptions, I have been plugging away at my weight loss as well as writing the plant-based, whole food cookbook. Recipe testing fell by the wayside the past two weeks, but I've still gotten a good chunk of the book done. I also got on the scale this morning for another one pound loss which makes a total of 61 lbs. since I started this journey back in July. It's second nature at this point and I have so much more energy and feel healthy. The only negative is that because I've lost so much weight I'm seeing some sagging, crepe-papery skin happening. Yuck. Some of that is age and I need to figure out some toning exercises. It's definitely a life-style change, but a positive one which I'm so thankful I started on. The pictures above are a small selection of meals I've eaten the past two months and many of those will be included in the book.  This will be a printable e-book as I find that will be the easiest and most cost ...
Read more

When the Unexpected Pops Up

-
Image
On Thursday afternoon, just as Dan and I were getting ready to leave for a meeting, we received a phone call from our son. He was sitting on the side of the road with a blown engine in his car. The problem is he lives 3 1/2 hours away. After back and forth phone calls he called a tow truck and got it towed to a garage. He ended up renting a car and headed here for the holiday. We've been working with him to figure out his next steps because he still owes thousands of dollars on the car which will also take a significant amount to replace the engine. His rent is going up in the new year. His seasonal job ended and he is trying to find something else, but needs a car for that to happen. His car still has not been looked at by the mechanic. It is all more than a little overwhelming. Long story short, we extended an invitation for him to live here temporarily so he can get out from under all of this. It would save him money on expensive rent and utilities.  The timing was right since h...
Read more