8thday4life was the beginning of my blogging life, or as I like to call it, self-directed therapy with the possibility of an audience. Since then, I’ve started a few more, for different flavors of subject matter. This one I’ve tried to keep to the mission – testifying about Jesus and how He delivered us from really distracting, damaging religious ideas. I have another one for more personal spiritual discussions, one for being goofy and posting pictures, and a private one for poetry. If I am writing poetry, I’m venting. I have a new one registered to talk about nutrition and natural health – which was supposed to start this year. Well not yet.
I thought I had the bases covered for all my various writing outlet needs. But then my fairly-calm, superficially-organized life with a vague routine and goals in sight, just got splattered all over the map. I still have the need to write, but …. what I have to say doesn’t fit anywhere. I don’t have a file category for what you want to say when everything you don’t expect happens in three months’ time. I’ve tried to always maintain a level of pessimism high enough to not be shaken by all the various disasters that could emerge from the void of the future unknown. I believed this ability to expect the worst insulated me from the shock of unexpected crises. I’ve said it before on this blog, and I say it again now. I was wrong. Not only have I been taken by utter surprise more than once, but some of my very close friends have as well. It’s like we’ve all been thrown into the cauldron at the same time. I don’t want to give my enemies a cause to rejoice so I will just say, what the enemy has meant for harm, God has intended for good. Always. (Romans 8)
But I am here to testify that GOD IS GOOD. No matter what. If I started to list here all that He has done, and all that we are thankful for right now, I’d run past the word limit where people stop reading and go back to facebook. He has made His presence and direction so evident that it cannot be explained in any other way than to know – there IS a God, and He is an awesome God! I hope someday I can tell the whole story, but it’s not time right now.
I also used to believe (another one of my legalistic fallacies…. adding this in so this post is still relevant for 8thday4life :)) that a person’s spiritual level was a mathematical equation directly related to how much time they spent reading the Bible every day. (BIG Qualification: We do need to read the Word. ALL the Word. As much as possible. Every day is highly desirable!) I thought spiritual strength and faith would wane if this practice was neglected for any reason at all. I judged other people for their lack of habit in this regard as less spiritual.
Right now I’m in a season, one I’m praying is over soon, where I am not keeping this habit up. (Another reason I have not been writing here). I don’t like it. I want back what I had before life got crazy. I can’t focus to read much of anything, let alone the Word of God. I do know that what I’m going through would be immensely harder if I had not invested so much time previously renewing my mind. But I miss it. Maybe this is to teach me not to even trust my ability to do ANYTHING in my own power toward being a “real” Christian. Here’s my mind battle.
The old programming says, “If you were a REAL Christian you would have more discipline no matter what was going on. You will fail if you don’t hold up your end of the duty.” My NEW program, which I choose to listen to, says, “Pray for strength to be restored, and the ability to digest spiritual food again. It is HE who wills and enables you. Trust Him to get you through this season and to restore what has been set aside, even greater than it was before. Patiently wait for the Lord. Don’t trust your striving, but wait for the Lord. He will revive you”
Only Jesus is the rock. The Word is precious, but He is the LIVING reality of it, the Rock that gives water in the desert. Our family and friends are the most beautiful gifts from Him on earth, but He is the Rock. Even though I don’ t know the final outcome of all the various situations going on right now I know enough to say for sure, Jesus is enough!! More than enough. He is everything.
8thDay4Life 
And yet the river of Living Water that you share with others is still flowing. As I have been reading the Word lately, and seeing things that suddenly fit together and explain the meaning, I praise my God for you, that you wrote about the deeper meanings in the Gospels and caused me to ask, seek, and knock.
But getting satisfaction from the Word takes a certain frame of mind and physical strength that we can’t control. Since I have been reading some of the saints of the Middle Ages, they all tell of times that are almost identical to what you have just written. And how they were baffled that the Lord would allow the experience. And yet how they all came through much more fruitful and with such an inflow of the Spirit as they never dreamed possible.
Last week, after your experiencing a week that leaves the rest of us breathless just hearing about it, one of your most urgent prayers was that you would have the time and strength to go minister to the ladies at the women’s shelter. The denting of your new car was not even worthy of your mention. The river flows, and when you can enjoy it again, it will be so deep we will have to float with it!!!
That River will be too deep to walk through, too swift to swim. But It will carry us from glory unto glory, “just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Amen to all that! I am feeling it also. Missing so much of what was in last season. Ready for this current one to be over. I am thankful for the things I have learned so far and know that is what keeps my faith strong. I also am missing the word, To feel closer to God. I take a big breath today in hopes it is coming to an end. It is hard stuff when the trials go on in our own homes, but makes even harder when those we love dearly are going through big ones in their own homes, and we want to do more for them but cant. So all we can do is pray. Pray pray pray…
I also know God will make good out of all things and we win in the end no matter what. Knowing these simple things and still desiring more of God says we have learned so very much in our walk. As long as we continue in our belief we will be ok. The Holy Spirit does hold us up. Thank you Jesus for all things. You are the true rock in our lives. We love you!
I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH!!:)