Looking for Soul Stops

It seems the sentinel that watches the passing of days has stood close guard over the moments escaping all too quickly this season.  As I try to keep pace,  I  frequently find myself looking for a boost to help me catch up.  I know this is just one the many cycles of the changing that exists in the expanse of our living; where the busy overrides the pausing and spills into the waiting and the sharing. In this crowded calendar there can be a vacuum that pulls on the soul. Even though it will pass, like most things do, I long to have the peace and confidence to reach that finish line well. We have to be careful in with this season because it is a preparing time and it is all too easy to miss.

The cycle of seasons  is sometimes like the yellow light at the intersection of life reminding me of just how much I need to look for the soul stops on the journey.

Much like the seasons, our lives tend to emulate the metamorphic  transitions we endure. Fleeting moments,  like the leaves falling and floating to the whim of the wind, continually remind me that this wind blowing from His Spirit directs my steps and keeps me situated on the path.  Even though the leaves seem to lack direction, I know He is the breeze that will steer  me safely to the destination where grace waits close. I am learning a few precious truths during this season of transition.

Changes in the days, the lessening of the sunlight with the turning of the earth, doesn’t have to  diminish His presence in each moment,  because His presence is enough to light the path ahead.( Psalm 16:11,Psalm 119:105 )

The updraft  current that life seems to be navigating in your today doesn’t have to snatch pieces of tomorrow before they come to pass, give thanks in it all because praise opens the door to abundance.(1 Thes 5:17,Matt. 6:34)

Because he has numbered our days, He has seen our end from our beginning, even though we may feel that there is an eternity between the two, His Goodness is part of our yesterday, today and tomorrow.( Psalm 139,Hebrews 13:8)

He is always infused in our present, preparing us for every storm that may blow hard upon our souls and each transition that forces us to wait and rest in His goodness on the journey.

God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help  in trouble. – Psalm 46:1

Lately, as the schedule has been dictating my days, I have needed the reminder  that His Presence is powerful in my present.

Especially,when….

• … I feel less like the planner of my day but and more like a passenger along for the ride.
• … the busy schedules with kids, school, and to-do-lists take the place of the His peace in my relationships.
• … the disappointing moments of hoped for dreams and the actual reality of life combine necessitating a much needed release of both.
• … the power of an exhale is waiting for the crazy to catch up and  refuel  these weary muscles.
• … grace meets the every day and we understand the gift of living free in its promise.

 Here in this place, where the calendar catches your breath and you are gasping for grace to fill you up, there is a precious lesson we can find in by waiting deep in His Presence: Situated in the  now moments of living real life, HE  is the standard of grace, because HIS reality becomes our real life hoping, and friends, that changes everything.

As we catch it close, like the floating hallelujah that the trees release in the preparing season, we feel His whisper like a rejuvenating wind blowing hard… because He is always infused in our present, preparing us to receive the blessings of our future hope.

Behold , my plan for you is to bless you and prosper you, to give you a hope and a future.– Jeremiah 29:11

This time of restless busy can be a time of renewal if we learn to recognize that we are being prepared.  It is the coming close, nearer to the heart of God , that insulates us from the hectic overload that threatens our peace in the season where our plates overflow with extra.

This harvest season, the preparing for the winter moment of our living, translates to storing and release.

In many ways we are collecting the fruit that the bounty of summer’s diligence provides. We are releasing all those things which clutter and crowd, wearing down the limbs of our soul. I am not always so good with the catch and release action.  I want to gather and hoard, because there is a safety in the counting, but I miss the power of the grace in releasing when I hold tightly to that which keeps me insulated from His tending.

The trees have to let go of the leaves because the job has been completed in the cycle of time. Once released, floating on the waves history, they are sealed in a beauty that only comes from the season of light.  Nature teaches us truths so simply that we can easily forget.  In each season there are light gifts that shine and reveal the power of moving forward. Fall teaches us to let go, to follow hard after the One thing that does not follow the entropic law of decay.  We learn to hold on to the tangible gently, yet strive to retain the eternal with a fierce possession that eradicates the need for anything else.  As we shed the unnecessary, we learn that letting go becomes so much easier.

Each leaf that falls is like a new memory. We soon learn to bend and sway with the seasons of life our leaves grow and dance in the wind of the living. The connection we have with something bigger than our selves is revealed and our hearts become an open invitation to others, leading by grace through twists and turns of the let go and the pause in the fall.  Even if the moment is fleeting,  it is a light catcher, a prism that bends our vision to see better so that we can float through the hard and the mundane remembering with joy because He is always infused in our present, preparing us for the season which will advance through the night upon our tomorrow.

I will bless the  LORD who gives me counsel….even in the night season. – Psalm 146:1

We need this light upon our soul, the journey that leads us to stop and collect the floating graces baked to perfection in the radiance of His love. They are the vitamins of hope that we are meant to ingest and to invest in our wandering so that when change comes we are refined by the release and strengthened for the next season of life.

I am finding in this busy time that there is a space He is making, a soul stop for each part of the journey to collect the falling graces and jump in with reckless abandon.  He gives us the open door of invitation as we step into the journey He prepares.  If we keep that as our prism, if we let Him be our vision, then we will see each season for the preparation that it is meant to be. Sometimes in the busy, my heart gets overwhelmed and over-tired…and I miss the power of grace.  But being busy in body and quiet in heart makes the difference and…

When He is infused in our present the no longer compels me to hold on tight to what I know, but to catch the changes that the tree of life releases in the season.

The  leaves of my yesterday’s soul stopping produced faith as I basked in the sunlight of grace leading to the release of tomorrow’s already filtered memory as a promise of hope and a beacon of blessing… because in His Presence joy is infused filling us in every season if we dare to see it.

Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful season, filling our hearts with food and gladness.-Acts 14:17

Praying that you are activating faithfulness through whatever season of change you are journeying through today.  Or perhaps you are in a season of pause and reflect, watching and waiting on the promises and hope  He has filled in your heart.  May you enjoy the beauty of whatever season your soul has found itself resting.

At the beginning of September I told you I would be reading through the book of Acts as my devotional and sharing what I learned on my FB page, but if you were following you may have seen only a few posts.  I will be continuing the thread in October, sharing with you what I learned. I didn’t make it all the way through Acts in 28 days because I  kept stopping and going back to reread these powerful truths waiting for us. I have so many notes to share and I am going to limit myself to just a few each week instead of daily.  It seemed that when I planned to share with you daily, my computer, my internet service or my schedule seemed to get in the way. 🙁 I hope you will still take time to join me here and there as I journey through the book of Acts through October and share bits and pieces as I go.  Thanks for your grace.

Linking up with heart friends for some soul filling blessings on the way:

SDG Gathering, Playdates with  God, UNITE,Reflecting His Glory, #RaRaLinkUp, #TellHisStory, Coffee for your Heart, Three Word Wednesday, Everyday Jesus, Faith Barista,Thought Provoking Thursdays, Grace and Truth Link Up,Faith n’ Friends Blog Hop, Missional Women,Dance with Jesus, Still Saturday,The Weekend Brew, Give Me Grace, Christian Mommy Blogger