Spiritual Lessons 

In Quiet Submission to Simply Be

I was having a hard time Sunday. Just being honest. :) Hard times do come and sometimes we choose to struggle with them.

I went out in our pasture that evening and walked through the long grass sprinkled with white daisies. I reached the very end of it and sat down and looked up at the hills still lit by the setting sun. And I cried.

I know my health plays a huge part in how I feel. Our physical is attached to our spiritual. Our spirit, soul and body are linked and they do affect each other. Another part is the circumstances I am surround with, and the attitudes of others in my life. My heart hurt and felt heavy.

Christ came and sat right there in front of me and listened. I could feel Him smiling and He asked me “Have I ever failed you in this? Have I ever led you astray?”

I thought back on His past faithfulness. And I said through my tears, “No, you have never failed me.”

He laughed and said “Then why are you crying?”

I laughed, even while I cried. It was kind of silly. So I shared all that was on my heart. He didn't condemn me. He understood where I was better than I did. 

I asked, "Is it weak to feel this way? Is it wrong?"

You know what He shared with me? No, it wasn't wrong. But it was weak to feel the way I was feeling. But it was a human, natural thing that He doesn't condemn, but a prone and weak place to be.

I had been “afraid” to tell Jesus how I felt because I thought He might take "this" away because He would know it was too much of a temptation... As if He didn't already know! 

Had He ever done anything to prove Himself untrustworthy? No! Did I really want to entrust my heart with myself? No thinking twice on that. Why hesitate to let a perfect, all-knowing, God orchestrate my life?  If He chose to take "this" away it would be for the best.  

To be able to allow Him to provide for me, and to do so without anxiety, and to silently give Him glory by simply being is my great desire. A child's heart that trusts her Father's providence is sweetly care-free. His yoke is light when I hold no expectations to where He will be guiding and don't pull in one direction or the other. My responsibility is to simply be. These temptations are opportunities to do just that. Do I know what He will do next? No idea. Do I trust that it will be good? Yes, I do, with all my heart. In quiet submission I will simply be.

“I find that it is not the circumstances in which we are placed, but the spirit in which we meet them, that constitutes our comfort; and that this may be undisturbed, if we seek for and cherish quiet submission, whatever may be the privations allotted us.” ~ Elizabeth T. King (Joy and Strength, 176)