Soaking 201

 

 

I’ve been soaking for quite some time now.

And I feel as though I owe an apology. As mentioned in an earlier post, I prayed for a time to soak and those of you that know me, know that I love beautiful, sunny days. They make my heart sing. However, I feel like all the rain this summer has played a significant role in washing my heart of the lies it has built up and I found myself looking forward to the rainy days so I could sit, soak and be washed in His truth. Therefore, I apologize for the excess of rainfall this year. I guess it tells you how much soaking I really needed and still need for that matter. In fact, I am sitting on my covered porch as we speak enjoying the nice steady rain. And my heart is singing. I even went and sat in the rain at the park this morning, but that is a story for anther time.

Back to soaking…

I have discovered the truth of the matter is that I have no idea how to do this thing called life. But wait. Don’t stop there. There is hope. There is one that does know. He is the all knowing; the all loving; the all powerful. Our Helper here on earth.

            “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you”  - John 14: 16,17

In this time of soaking, I have discovered that as much as I want to be able to carry the burdens of life, I am not called for that responsibility. They say one quality of a strong leader is delegation – knowing when to share the responsibility because you have too much on your plate. No one likes a micromanager. However, that is sometimes what I become when I try to carry all my burdens in life. So I look at it this way… I am simply called to follow His truth and delegate the burdens to Him so He can carry the load. How comforting is that? Perhaps that is why many of us are so fatigued and worn. We were never intended to carry the weight of this world. Why do we find it so necessary then? Maybe because we want to prove to the world that we can handle this thing called life. I’m not sure how it’s been working for you, but it hasn’t been turning out to swell for me. It has left me fatigued and worn out.

            “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” -  Matthew 11:28-30

You must understand the concept of the yoke to be able to fully understand this passage. The yoke was a double harness in which two animals pulled together. Often, one harness was larger than the other and meant for the stronger and more experienced animal.  The smaller harness was used to train the smaller, weaker animal.

I don’t know about you, but I could use some rest! Now you can put into practical application of Matthew 11:28-30. If you take His yoke and put it on yourself, that means you do not have to carry the burdens anymore. That is His job! What a relief!

I know some of you are wishing there was an easier solution to this. And sometimes (well, probably a lot of the time) I wish the same thing. I know it is easier said than done, but really the answer is just giving it to Him to carry. If you are like me and countless others, you give it to Him only to turn around and take it right back. That’s the hard part. Leaving it in His hands to carry and not snatching it back. For me, it is a daily battle. And it is my hope that with some time and practice and it will get easier. I hope… I’m not speaking from experience on this one because I haven’t made it there yet. Remember… I have admitted to being a control freak. *chuckle, chuckle* But at least I am aware of the problem. And part of problem is that the control nature tells me I should keep a handle on my life. However, I’m finding that I’m not the best one for that job.

On that note, I will close with this quote from a book I am reading, “Calm My Anxious Heart” by Linda Dillow. *Upon which I highly recommend to all those worriers and control freaks out there like myself.

            “Just as a cup of tea gets stronger when we give it time to steep, so we become more content when we spend time in God’s Word and allow it to seep into our lives, transforming us to be like Him.”

Just as we want our cup of tea to be strong and rich in flavor we must allow it to steep which takes time and patience. Even so, if we want our lives to be strong and rich in His love and truth, we must steep ourselves into His Word. Again, this takes time and patience. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Now go steep!