Back to basics

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so no one can boast

So, I am back. I have been travelling to the highest mountains and deepest valleys in my mind, trying to grasp and picture and foresee a future that is not even my own, trying to chase after the Truth, just so that I could put it in a box. Did it work? Not at all. I have found myself exhausted, discouraged, anxious, chased after by the pressure of coming up with results and creating solutions. Because, as I have done so many times before, I was relying on my own strength, my own abilities to climb that mountain and pass through that valley, where I thought I would magically find the hidden treasures that hold the answers to my questions and fears. The map that I was using to give me direction is made up of those twisted and confusing half-truths of a world that offers solutions everywhere we look, yet each and every turn we take according to that map leads us further away from the only Treasure that is ever worth finding.
And it is not even hidden. It is in plain sight, and it has found me a long time ago. I am the one who has been hiding behind complicated thinking and complex strategies to avoid having to trust.

God is doing a work in me

He’s walking through my rooms and halls

Checking every corner

Tearing down the unsafe walls

And letting in the light

And I am working hard

To clean my house and set it straight

Not let pride get in the way

To catch an eternal vision of

What I am to become

Will you help me be new

Will you hold me to the promises that I have made

Will you let me be new

Forgive my old self, and my old mistakes

It seems easier Living out my life in Christ

For those do not know it

To hide the thorn stuck in my side

And all my secret faults

But you know me well

And it’s you I want the most to see

And recognize the changes

A word from you empowers me

To press on for my goal

Will you help me be new

Will you hold me to the promises that I have made

Will you let me be new

Forgive my old self, and my old mistakes

When I feel condemned to live my old life

Remind me I’ve been given a new life in Christ

(Sara Groves - Help me be new)

So, I am back. Back here in this place where there is nothing else left to do but trust, and have faith. Back to the basics of relationship with the One Who holds all the answers that I could ever need. It is a good place to be. A peaceful one, full of grace.

Ezekiel 34:6, 11-12

My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. " 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.