Recently, I have been pondering what it looks like to worship and maintain intimacy with God through every season of life. Last year, for me, was a season of hardship. I had to learn to invite God into the places of pain and meet him in the brokenness. I had to learn to find joy even in the midst of sorrow and to learn to trust God’s heart and intentions towards me, even in the midst of situations I couldn’t understand. Some days were so hard I was acutely aware of my dependence on God for my next breath just to get me through the day. I learned to pour out my heart to the Father and to let Him comfort me and apply salve to my wounds.
This season is very different. Can I get a praise break???? In this season, much of what I lost has been restored and the blessings have been pouring in. Life is going extremely well and I find myself smiling quite a bit. This week I was reflecting on what it looks like to give God my full attention and adoration in this season. Although I wouldn’t want to revisit the past, there is something so sweet about the intimacy you achieve with the Lord through seasons of hardship. When everything is going right, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that we are actually still dependent on God for our every breath. We’re more likely to do things in our own strength and most dangerously, we can shift our focus from the Father to the blessings.
I don’t know if anyone else feels this way besides me, but sometimes I think we feel like we have to guard ourselves against enjoying our blessings too much. For starters, at times, we are waiting for the ax to drop. But also, I think we feel like if we enjoy something too much we will somehow displease God in that. After all, we are supposed to enjoy Him the most. So understandably, we guard ourselves against anything that would compete for the affection that belongs to Him.
Reflecting on all the blessings and gifts I have been given, the Holy Spirit revealed something to me. What I saw in my mind was an image of a brilliant crystal, with each facet reflecting its own amazing color and light. I realized that every person and thing I so enjoy in this season, I enjoy because they are reflecting a different aspect of God’s heart to me. Each person and thing I so dearly love is continuously showing me, in their own unique way, what the love of God looks like in action.
As I seek to worship God and grow in intimacy with Him in this season, a big part of that will be to continue to recognize that His love and heart shines through every blessing and gift. To know that everything that brings me joy teaches me something about the nature and character of God. In the same way, I chose to invite God into my pain, I choose to invite Him into my happiness, celebration and delight. I choose to remember that God is my ultimate partner in this adventure and He shares in my joy.
And as a friend of mine, so excellently worded it to me earlier today, “Sometimes surrender means allowing yourself to fully enjoy the blessings of the Father without fear.” Receive every gift from God without fear and embrace it fully. Choose to recognize the message of His heart contained in every blessing.
