Lead back to Love

Thankful that I get to recuperate with a beautiful view outside my window.

I’ve been sick on and off for almost the last few weeks, which is one of my least favorite activities, mostly because it requires lots of doing nothing to heal.

But doing a lot of nothing, when appropriate, can have the most powerful healing properties. On a physical level, our bodies are pretty resilient if we let them do their thing by resting. On a spiritual level, I find over and over again that the still and quiet voice of the Holy Spirit is amplified, and that sickness can actually lead you back to the love of the Father again. I feel Him so deeply and sweetly near, and all my concerns just fade into the background in this flow of love from the Source. The Love of God is everything; it is life itself.

I’ve felt pretty spiritually dry recently, my heart, mind, and body still reeling a bit from lots of transitions, and also lots of amazing possibilities of ways to partner with Holy Spirit in Aotearoa.

I’m shifting out of sabbatical into a season of “low and slow”, as Heidi Baker likes to call it. I came to New Zealand with big plans to work with refugees and the poor, yet the Father pushed pause on that to give me refuge and address my poverty of spirit.

On the other side of a season of rest, I’ve heard the invitation clearly to lay aside my big plans so that God can move in me how He wants. Practically that looks like starting at the bottom with organizations serving the homeless. And so far it looks more like Him connecting me with refugees on the street than those engaged by resettlement organizations. The other day when serving at a local city mission my main job was to peel hard-boiled eggs and wash dishes, and I could not help but be energized and smile because the Son of Man came to serve, not to be served, and I really want to be like Him!

Sometimes God’s big plans look like the smallest seed that grows into a mighty oak, or a baby birthed in a stable in an uncelebrated town on the edge of an empire. It’s God’s baby, and He knows how to grow it.

The wild sea rejuvenates my soul like few things do! This photo was taken during golden hour at Piha with my iphone.