Quiet Overflow

"Blessed are all who wait for Him!" Isaiah 30:18

“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance.
Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that you may live" - Isaiah 55:2-3
 
        I have been slowly learning to listen for God and be at rest. Having a new baby at home may seem like hardly the season for embracing stillness, but for whatever reason God has clearly, and forcefully at times, marked out a theme of quiet pause these past few months. Not that I have felt at rest most of the time; I have been too busy wrestling with God as I usually do when I don't understand what he's after. Anxieties have overrun my soul often, but as I look back it seems to be mostly self-inflicted restlessness. I have been fighting for my vision of how I want to serve God rather than waiting to hear how he wishes me to serve him. It is so much easier to do than to abide. 
           But now that I am beginning to obey, to settle down my soul to hear God's word, I find him ever-present and speaking in beautiful ways.

So I am sharing two selections that have spoken to me recent weeks.
First this quotation from "Sunday School Times":

Straining and striving does not accomplish the work God gives us to
do. Only God Himself, who always works without stress and strain and Who
never overworks, can do the work He assigns to His children. When we
restfully trust Him to do it, the work will be completed and will be done
well. And the way to let Him do His work through us is to fully abide in
Christ by faith that He fills us to overflowing.
A man who learned this secret once said, "I came to Jesus and drank, and I
believe I will never be thirsty again. My life's motto has become 'Not
overwork but overflow,' and it has already made all the difference in my
life."

Secondly, this untitled poem has been on my mind; it's different stanzas taking their turns at resonating with the recent currents of my soul. 
 
I longed to walk along an easy road,
And leave behind the dull routine of home,
Thinking in other fields to serve my God;
But Jesus said, "My time has not yet come."

I longed to sow the seed in other soil,
To be unshackled in the work, and free,
To join with other laborers in their toil;
But Jesus said, "'It's not My choice for thee."

I longed to leave the desert, and be led
To work where souls were sunk in sin and shame,
That I might win them; but the Master said,
"I have not called you, publish here My name."

I longed to fight the battles of my King,
Lift high His standards in the thickest strife;
But my great Captain had me wait and sing
Songs of His conquests in my quiet life.

I longed to leave the hard and difficult sphere,
Where all alone I seemed to stand and wait,
To feel I had some human helper near,
But Jesus had me guard one lonely gate.

I longed to leave the common daily toil,
Where no one seemed to understand or care;
But Jesus said, "I choose for thee this soil,
That you might raise for Me some blossoms rare."

And now I have no longing but to do
At home, or else afar, His blessed will,
To work amid the many or the few;
Thus, "choosing not to choose," my heart is still.
--Selected
Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman (September 5th reading)

Freedom

Penned January 11.

I don’t know if I have ever begun a new year with quite the same serene sense of freedom as I encountered in closing 2012 and awakening to 2013. The future is alive with possibilities and adventures unknown, but I fear none of them. I am at peace. I am simply open to whatever may come. Circumstances are by no means calm, everything signals impending changes, imminent transitions, potential chaos and anxiety. Yet it seems as if my soul has found a haven, for I do not feel unsettled by any of it. The Lord is my Shepherd, why should I fear? The Lord, my Hope, is strong and sure. I have a thousand doubts. His Word sustains me; his faithfulness never fails. How thrilling and freeing to find repose in him, to fall with unflinching abandon into the invisible surety of his provision, his wisdom, his timing his grace. My soul finds in him beautiful rest that renews like no sleep ever can. The depths of his comfort are infinite.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”  2 Corinthians 3:17-18