Savoring & Sharing: When God Calls Us to Silence and When He Calls Us to Speak

Savoring & Sharing: When God Calls Us to Silence and When He Calls Us to Speak

The reason why we do things matters, you know? I can tell the difference in my soul when I’m changing outfits because I feel insecure and when I’m changing outfits because the southern weather (once again) unexpectedly changed seasons without warning.

I can also tell the difference when I’m listening to a sermon or a podcast or reading my Bible because I am chasing after togetherness with God or when I’m listening/reading because I want to send the information off to someone else as quickly as possible, like spiritual hot potato.

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Quiet Schedule

Here’s a thought that, for me, was revolutionary: Jesus doesn’t want your hustle. He wants your trust.

Cue brain explosions.

I am a person who has always had a loud schedule. I don’t like to say no or disappoint people, and I like to be viewed as reliable, productive, and efficient. I am an expectations-meeter, and my calendar has always been dictated by other people. My insides may whisper, “Say ‘no!’ This is too much!” but my default response is to squelch that little weakling, make her buckle down and get to work. My desire to outrun any possible accusations of “lazy” or “flaky” have led me to the verge of complete panic approximately a zillion times in my life. The pages of the planners I’ve owned have practically hemorrhaged inky scribbles and sticky notes, my colorful attempt to wrangle my life into order, to please everyone, to get everything done. It’s a shrill, neon scream: “THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO.”

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Quiet Beauty

Quiet Beauty

One of my favorite movie lines is from that old Jim Carrey movie Liar Liar. Carrey’s character Fletcher is talking with his son, who says, “My teacher tells me beauty is on the inside,” and Fletcher replies, “That's just something ugly people say.” 

I’m not proud that I laugh hysterically every time, but I do. In our culture, “inner beauty” does kind of sound like the Tooth Fairy of traits—totally made up but leaves you a dollar’s worth of happiness here and there. Of course a dollar doesn’t buy much.

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