flour & oil.

 

On Sunday night I went to an All Sons and Daughters night of worship. [Side note: Birmingham has WAY more concerts than Baton Rouge. It’s unreal!] Since then, one of their songs, Rising Sun, has been replaying in my head. Part of the lyrics say, 

Hallelujah name above all. 
Simply to speak your name is praise.

I needed this song to be stuck in my head. Because I need to be reminded that simply to utter His name upon my lips is praise. 

In this season of both answered prayers that overwhelm me with His goodness and unanswered prayers that leave me wandering in the wilderness, I need to be reminded that simply to speak His name is praise. Sometimes that’s all I have in me. And that’s okay. 

It reminds me of the story of the widow in 1 Kings 17. All she has is a handful of flour and a little oil. She is gathering sticks to prepare to die. And yet, even then, she offers that little bit she has left to Elijah as he has instructed her. We can do that too. We can bring whatever it is we have – however small, and offer it back to the one who gave it to us in the first place. Elisabeth Elliot puts it so well, “Although our “assigned portion and cup” (Psalm 16:5) seems to be a strange mixture of good and bad it is all He asks of us. We can look up and rejoice.”

Though it’s not always easy, it doesn’t take much to offer the Lord a sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 116:17). We can speak His name and bring Him whatever it is we are holding in our hands. What’s important is not what we bring to His feet, but rather that we are going to His feet in the first place. Even if it’s just to bring a little flour and a little oil. 

 

I don’t like to blog.

I don’t.

I like to write. I like to journal. I like to process. But I don’t like to blog and put it all out there for the world to read. Yet, here I am. With words being typed into this little box, knowing full well that it will be posted on the internet when I click the little button at the bottom of the page.

I was reminded tonight when I was talking to a dear friend of why I started this blog in the first place.  I started a blog so I could share what the Lord is doing in my life and use it to remember where I’ve come from, where He is bringing me.

So why is this so hard? If I am writing about what the Lord is teaching me and how He is revealing Himself, what makes this so difficult? What it comes down to is that I care too much what other people think.

There. I said it.

I care what people think of what I write on here. Which is so silly. Funny thing is, though, there is freedom in saying it out loud.

What’s typed out on this page isn’t important. 

The {perfectly filtered} pictures I post to instagram don’t matter. 

My profile picture on facebook is irrelevant. 

In this social media driven, overly-connected, let’s-let-everyone-know-what-we’re-doing world, I seem to have forgotten what truly matters. I fall into the trap of wanting to create this perfect picture of who I am for the world to see, but in doing so, I so easily miss the point.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism‘s first question asks “What is the chief end of man?” Do you know what the answer is? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. 

If I truly lived my life out of that truth, how different would my life be? Really different. I wouldn’t care so much what everyone else saw in me, I would live for the God who made me just the way I am.

So, know that this blog will continue. It will. Because sharing what He is teaching me, and doing in and through me, that brings Him glory. And it allows me to enjoy Him because it reminds me of who He is.

My time in Birmingham so far has been a sweet season – I have learned so much. So stay tuned if you are out there reading this… because I’ll be back soon to share. And if I’m not, you should ask me why not 🙂

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified… and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom… that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of man but in the power of God. [1 Corinthians 2:1-5]

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. [Galatians 1:10]

For we cannot help but speak of what we have seen and what we have heard! [Acts 4:20]