Solid Rock.

I will call upon your name, and keep my eyes above the waves… when oceans rise, my soul will rest in your embrace, for I am yours, and you are mine. ~Oceans, Hillsong United

It’s been a week.  It started off already emotionally fragile, with difficult stuff happening back with my heart family in Seattle.  I traveled for two and a half days to return to my ship home across nine time zones, so jet lag was significant.  I had a double ear infection and sinus infection.  I’m fairly certain I have an intestinal parasite.  I had a whole lot going on at work. I had some tough conversations with people.  I didn’t sleep well and cried easily.  I panicked over something silly and was blown and tossed around in the winds of people’s opinions, actions, and convictions.

Awesome. 

I was chatting with God while running last night and this happened –

Me:  God… am I going to make it?

God:  Well, my child… whether you do, or whether you don’t… it’s entirely up to you.

Ooofh.

We all have tough times, days, weeks, seasons… no one will argue that.  However… how I respond to them? it's entirely up to me. 

On Christ the solid rock I stand… all other ground is sinking sand. ~ My hope is built on nothing less, Edward Mote

So what do we do with this? What do we do when it feels like there is no longer anything solid under our feet? 

We quit dwelling on the crap and start dwelling on the King.

I quit allowing myself to be distracted by this that and the other thing and focus on that which is eternal.  I quit focusing on how things feel and instead focus on how things really are.   

There are a few things that always help in emotionally unstable times…

1.       Exercise

2.       Natural beauty

3.       Heart connection  

Know what actually happens when I’m in a funk? I am too lazy/too tired to run, it’s far too much work to go off the ship, and I sequester myself in my cabin and don’t interact with anyone.  What needs to happen?  I need to go for a run, go to the beach, talk to a dear heart sister who can help remind me of who I really am and who God really created me to be… not who I feel like in the moment.

Know why these always work?  Because God is deep in each one of them.  Physical exercise releases all kinds of good things in the body, it’s how we were created.  Natural beauty is a healing balm to the soul – God created nature NOT to be primarily functional but to be primarily beautiful!  We need natural beauty like the air we breathe.  And we need people, heart sisters, connections in our lives who can help us to stop dwelling on the crap and start dwelling on the King.  I’ve been blessed with many such lovely souls in my life and I’m so grateful.

God reminded me he has also called me to greatness… and whether or not that comes to pass is entirely up to me.  God has called all of us to this.  It looks different for each of us but ultimately, it is our choice whether or not we ever get there.

Welcome to your new week… what you do with it, what it is built on, where you are at the end of it – it’s entirely up to you.  Choose wisely, dear one.

It’s a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. ~Madeleine L’Engle