Free writing for Five Minute Friday, for just five minutes, on the word prompt…
What if the place He’s called me to isn’t out there somewhere after all? After all the flailing around trying to find the right path forward, what if it was “here” He called me to, and wants me, wanted me all along?
We read that instruction to the first and leading disciples, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel…” and think we’re supposed to have a somewhere else to transport our bodies and preach or share or tell…
But there are many He told to stay where they were and tell the folks around them. That was their part of “all the world.” And it’s hard to “make disciples” of people in town A when you’re off and running to towns P, Q, R, and S.
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life…” were His “traveling orders” to the new believers in Thessalonica. And it meant right there, where they were.
I have done enough of that running around in expanding circles. Now that I sit still long enough to hear His voice, I get the clear idea He is saying, “Here” is where I want you to “go,” to move forward, to be—here with Me. And from here your heart and voice can reach out anywhere…
And “Here” is not necessarily a physical place…
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Here.
*****
oh I love that you said ‘here is not necessarily a physical place’ … true, true.
and that photo is precious!
Thanks, Linda (S). I love that some of my most precious photos… are accidents! 🙂
I linked up after you in FMF – love this post and very much needed to read it this morning! Will be back!
Hi Ruth! I’m so glad we met and that you stopped over here today. What a beauty it is, how God takes us to exactly what we need in just the ordinary of life!
I so agree with you. People in our “here” also need spiritual guidance and help. Being a disciple of what we believe in does not mean we need to go to far away places – especially during this time in society when many are turning away from God.
You are so right, Colline. “Here” can be a challenging field, too, because of that. All the more reason, I would guess, for God putting us in our “here.” I have to remind myself of that when I feel surrounded by much “dryness,” even on a rainy day!
Here is the time and the place, for God dwells within and without. I love the thoughts on ‘Here’ being right where we are, at home, in our own neighbourhood. The quote from Psalm 91 is one of my favourites as I shelter there often. Lovely thoughts. Oh, and a confession..I browsed your poetry too (being partial to it myself) and it’s beautiful, well worth sharing! Bless you 🙂 x
Hi Joy!
Yes, where “God dwells, within and without,” *that* is the “here” to be rooted in most. Thanks for visiting and stopping to comment, and I’m glad you poked around my poetry, too. I love having a visitor who’s partial to that. We do seem to live, to great extent, in a “prose” era, and I don’t find as many people pausing on poems.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. It’s ironic that you and I had such similar thoughts on “here”. I’m finding, the older I get, how very similar other people’s journeys are to my own. On a human level, I’ve never been as alone as I thought I was.
It was the similarity that attracted me, too, Linda. I have been thinking much lately about that journey, and wondering if it is a process in which we only move forward with the requisite time passage. It makes me happier to get older, and hopefully wiser, by His grace. And it’s lovely to find you as a fellow traveler at the same point on the path. 🙂
Last week a friend said she was told years ago that “go” meant “as you are going” so I have been thinking along those lines…wherever you go, going about your daily routines, local business, caring for the home….”here” under the shadow of HIS wings and “being” are pieces of the same puzzle. Maybe it should be “as you are becoming” becoming… even in a season of rest…God bless you, Sylvia, you always give me some more to ponder…
“As you are going”! Ohhh… That puts a different light on it, doesn’t it? You are the one giving me a good “ponder” here this morning, Laurie. This makes me want to break out that Greek course I once started and then left dangling, to learn the verbs and endings and their meanings. I think we probably miss a lot of things in translation. Thanks much for this, friend!
Awesome.
Beautiful post, Sylvie. There is so much wisdom about being here, fully present with God in the now. Not exactly what you said, but that is an aspect of it, too. And Ps. 91 has been profoundly meaningful to me as I neslted under His wing for nearly a month awaiting medical results after a number of tests and surgery. Here was a place of protection and definitely had to do with my state of mind, as you suggest. But something else really resonated to me personally w/ your post. You alluded to making disciples in the world (Acts 1), which I literally just read in my Bible today. It suddenly dawned on me that I could do that w/o leaving home (which would be difficult for me to do) via the Internet. What you said HERE applies to that: “And from here your heart and voice can reach out anywhere…” If I obey here writing at home, He can launch my words abroad with the click of a mouse and the prayers of my heart. Thank you for being obedient to your calling there at your computer!
Blessings,
Lynn
Yes, Lynn, that’s exactly it! We’re seeing the same thing here. Some things seem to limit me right now, and I can make the choice of fighting them and “getting out there,” or resting in what I see as the will of God for me at this time, doing whatever He has for me right where I am. And “reaching out anywhere” is easily a part of it! Our possibilities are often far less limited than we think!
Blessings to you!
Hi Denise,
Thanks for visiting!
Oh, Sylvia, I scrolled down after reading today’s poetry for “Still Saturday” and your words have reiterated what I have been sensing in my heart as well. “Quit trying so hard to do things your way and be still so that you can know Me.” May I wait upon the Lord.
Caring through Christ, ~ linda
Isn’t that interesting, Linda— amazing really, how God brings together different people to whom He’s been speaking the same kind of message? It verifies and encourages, doesn’t it? It does that for me, anyhow. I’m so glad you “happened upon” this, read and commented. Thanks be to God! And His precious blessings to you!