Originally published Wednesday, 25 March 2015.
"You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintry light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen." ~ Ernest Hemingway
You might have wondered like I have. When will it be my time?
When will it be my turn . . . to taste spring? Like me, you might have been waiting, longing -- ever so patiently -- to finally come to a place in your story. Where there are no more distractions. No more tears. No more fear.
Where the road will walk wide and the people you meet on this journey will welcome you with open arms. And call you friend. You imagine what it would be like to walk into a room and feel at home with yourself.
Like me, you long to be known.
I've often struggled to find this inner place of spring -- where I could finally grow into the me God had in mind when He made me. I kept waiting for a moment I felt I was okay, when I was no longer afraid -- when I could feel confident of where I was headed, what I was doing, and where it was all culminating to.
I was always trying to figure out my dream and my calling. I thought I was being purposeful. I thought I was a good thinker.
But, the honest truth that I've come to realize is this: I was really afraid to be the Beloved. God's beloved. Now. As is.
More Intimately Soul Beautiful
It's a lot easier to set goals and endeavor to achieve them -- whether they are better versions of ourselves as a woman, friend, daughter, wife, mother, or even as a believer.
But, it is a lot more vulnerable to say instead --
"I need loving. I don't want to do it all. I need beauty."
And in those quiet moments, it is intimately more soul beautiful to hear God whisper in return --
"You don't have to do it all. Don't try to be something.
Be my Beloved. Be loved."
It's easier to push through in a noisy world that celebrates doing and ignore God's soulful whispers. To do something definable -- to do things that others could point to and say, "Look. She did something. She is somebody."
It's a lot harder to stop. And soak in all that really matters again.
To rest. To feel tenderness toward yourself and those you love.
{click to download free printable}
It's what our soul truly longs for. To love and to be loved.
Love. It's the seed to everything we were meant to be in this life.
The Most Beautiful Vision of You
Love. It's the seed God planted in each of us as He traced His fingerprints into our hearts when God made us in the secret place. When God dreamed of making something new -- when He thought of all the sunsets He would paint, all the waves He would brush along the ocean's edge, and all the wildflowers He would dot along hillsides no one else would ever see, except Him alone -- God thought of you.
God held the most beautiful, perfect vision of you -- and He breathed that part of Himself into your soul and your spirit. Your personality. Your likes and dislikes.
And He protected that eternal version of you with His love. No amount of brokenness, betrayal, loss or rejection can hurt that inner part of you.
Because you belong to Him. You are His beloved. His love is Spring to our soul.
Will you let Spring back in? Will you let God love you again -- in a fresh and new way?
Like honey bees harvesting nectar in the spring when flowers and plants are in bloom, I'm gathering Scriptures that are returning a sweetness to my soul.
I've come to a point in my journey -- a chapter in my story -- to make these truths mine. Now.
I'm not going to wait.
I choose to be God's beloved -- afraid, doubtful, incomplete. As is. I am choosing to be God's beloved -- by saying yes to Spring.
6 Whispers of God's Spring In You
It's the first weeks of Spring. I'd like to celebrate it by sharing God's whispers of love with you -- as they're whispering Spring in me.
You are my beloved.
Just rest. "Return to rest, my soul for the Lord has been good to you." {Psalm 116:7}
Choose joy. "He will take delight in you... He renews you with his love.. he will rejoice over you with singing." {Zephaniah 3:17}
You are my beloved.
Be real. "Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders." {Deuteronomy 33:12}
Choose beauty. The God who made the world and everything in it...He made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God." {Acts 17:26-27}
You are my beloved.
Enjoy what delights you. "Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. And delight yourself in abundance." {Isaiah 55:1-2}
Start new. Cherish the small. "Do not despise these small beginnings. You are mine." {Zechariah 4:10, Isaiah 43:1}
May these whispers of love inspire you to join me on this journey of spiritual whitespace: choose to be His Beloved.
Today. Don't wait.
Let His Love become Spring in you today.
~~~~~
Pull up a chair. Share a Scripture that God is whispering words of love to you. How can you say yes to Spring in you?
For inspiration to create space in your life to breathe, order a copy of Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul To Rest. This memoir-driven guidebook for rest will nurture your heart to draw closer to God.
"Whitespace is soul grace. Bonnie Gray ushers weary women into the real possibility." - Ann Voskamp, NY Times bestsellng author of One Thousand Gifts
"If you want to hear Jesus speak more tenderly to your soul than ever befrore, this is the book for you." - Lysa TerKeurst, NY Times bestselling author of Unglued
{Photo Credit: Kelly Ishmael MindingMyNest.com}
SHARE
