Open Writing Prompt: {Soul Rest}
Anything that touches your heart during your 1-1 time with God.
I had a dream, but it fell apart. I didn’t pick myself up again, but I let it lie broken and trampled on. All because I trusted one voice of criticism more than many voices of encouragement. That’s me. More comfortable with receiving criticism than with receiving love.
I’m trying to pick up that dream again, but it’s so hard.
I want to allow myself to open up to encouragement.
Especially from God.
To stop and listen to His voice.
To let Him lead me.
To let Him love me.
To stop analyzing and planning everything by myself.
To allow myself to merely bask in the light of His Presence.
But I’m so stuck. Like the Israelites in the wilderness. God promised deliverance, but all they see is how they are blocked in with impossibilities. Pharaoh and 600 of his best war chariots hot on their heels. The mountains on either side of them. The Red Sea, wide and deep, in front of them. Terrified, they cry out to God. They grumble at Moses. Where will they go? They blindly follow the cloud of His presence that guides them onward, but it all seems so impossible. Will God let them be devoured by their enemies? Will they drown in the sea? Wouldn’t it have been better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness?
Moses told the people, “Fear not; stand still (firm, confident, undismayed) and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest.” (Exodus 14:13-14 AMP)
Then God told Moses to stop crying out and get moving. To tell the Israelites to move on. Moses raised his staff and stretched it out over the sea. True to His promise, God opened the way, impossible from their side but always-and-forever possible from His side. As they travelled through the Red Sea on dry ground, God moved His cloud behind them spreading light to them but darkness to their enemies.
This miraculous parting of impossibilities happened again later on in the Israelites’ journey when they had to pass through the Jordan River to get to Canaan. God told the priests who held the ark to go and stand in the river. The waters weren’t even parted yet! They had to step forward into the swirling waters trusting that God would open the way.
I’m Stuck
God, I feel so blocked in.
Enemies nip at my heels
Ready to drag me down into the pit,
The quicksand of depression.
I can’t possibly scale those mountains.
And a raging sea of impossibilities looms ahead of me.
I’m scared, God.
I read the stories of Your miracles
And I believe them.
But I’m so stuck.
Please shatter these shackles
That bind me.
Insecurity, shame, fear.
Please nudge me forward.
To dip my feet in.
To not only pray
But to take action.
Trusting You will open the way.
Letting myself be Your beloved.
Basking in the light of Your Presence.
Drawing from the power of Your All-Sufficent Grace.
I plead on Your power, O God.
You are still a God of miracles.
I Am the Way
My precious child,
I will always be faithful to you.
I will never, never leave you.
I will always be here for you.
Stop trying to find the sufficiency in yourself.
You will never find it there.
My grace makes you sufficient.
My strength is made perfect in your weakness.
Don’t look at all the barriers around you.
My beloved, look at Me.
Listen to My Voice.
I love you with an everlasting love.
Always have and always will.
Bask in My Presence.
Allow yourself to be loved.
Rest in My love for you,
And you will trust
I can mow down your enemies,
I can level mountains,
I can open up your sea of impossibilities.
I will shatter those shackles that bind you.
I will wash your wounds.
Just move forward, My child,
One step at a time.
Take action.
Dip your feet into the waters.
And trust Me, My child.
Nothing is impossible for Me.
Trust My leading.
Trust My love.
Trust My power.
Freed to Fly 
Beautiful!
That was my reading last night! I still read aloud to my daughter when she is in bed, and that was the potion in our chronological Bible! Love your application. Thank you.
You are beloved of God! I agree with your cry to him, poetically, and with his response. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!
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Thank you, Beth. That’s cool that you read the same portion last night. 🙂 I’ve been thinking a lot about it this past week. Comforting to know God is still the God of miracles today. He can get us through anything, right? He doesn’t promise we won’t have troubles, but He does promise He will be with us every step of the way.
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I can allow one voice of criticism pull me under too. But thankfully our God is always extending his hand to pull us back up. I’m glad you didn’t give up on your writing. We all have stories to tell and they all are important.
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Thank you, Lisa. Now that’s a thought. I didn’t totally give up writing. I just gave up writing a book. God still pulled me up enough that I didn’t quit writing altogether. 🙂 Something to be thankful for, although I still often fear. God is still a God of miracles and He can help us to keep our eyes on what He says, not on what critical voices say.
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He Will finish what He has begun
and you, the apple of His eye
will continue to learn to know and hear His voice
and His alone!
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Thank you for the encouragement, Karin. It’s a comfort to know He will finish what He has begun. I long for the negative voices to be silenced and His voice to always be foremost in my heart and mind.
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It is so easy to listen to that one voice of criticism. I have been struggling with that too! I love the verse you chose to share…we don’t have to do the fighting when facing our enemies. He does it for us. Praying for healing for your heart!
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Thank you so much for your prayers, Debbie. Let’s together put our hand in the Hand of Him Who fights for us. 🙂
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Agreed! 🙂
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This is very powerful….wonderful. Thanks for sharing and for coming by my blog. I had prayed that one person would be helped by what I wrote and the comment you left was an answer to prayer. God bless.
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God’s answer to prayer! Wow! That’s amazing, Renee. I am so grateful I shared how your post moved me. It was a God-thing. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words.
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Trudy,
Your words spoke to my heart again today. I fall so easily under the fear of criticism and judgment and struggle to stay out of the pit of depression and self-condemnation. I love the way God uses the courageous words of others to encourage us to keep moving forward. Thank you and blessings to you.
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Thank you for sharing, Sandee. It’s a tough battle, isn’t it? I have been sorely tried this week to give up my blog, so your words here have encouraged me. So thank you, Sandee. And blessings to you, too. I pray God gives you courage to start up your blog again. (In another comment, you mentioned it. When I click on your name, I see a warning of a phishing site, so perhaps you haven’t gotten back to it?) Remember YOU have so much to offer.
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I’m not sure why it would do that. When I checked it I didn’t see anything. Maybe you needed the name(?) sandeestory.blogspot.com. I’d really appreciate if you’d let me know if you still have a problem. I’m struggling with mine as well but I think God is using us to encourage each other. 🙂
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Found it, Sandee 🙂 I just realized when I clicked on your name that it leads to an email rather than your url. That’s probably why I was having problems. I left another note at your site. 🙂
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I finally found the link for today! 🙂
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