I know that the Holy
Spirit speaks to each of us in ways that may be different from others. Sometimes it’s a picture in your mind.
Sometimes it’s through someone else, and sometimes the words of Scripture seem
extra bold and wiggle a little as if they are about to jump off the page in
front of you. In my life, at least
lately, he has given me themes for my current life seasons. It’s so funny because the first theme
we wrote through on The Pearl Press was “rooted.” God had given me that single
word for my life when we moved to Kentucky from Seattle with our little newborn
girl. The word he gave me next was
“prune,” and now this theme “flourish” seems to echo the most current chapter
in my life.
Throughout Scripture
there are many analogies comparing our faith to plants, and stages of
growth. I love how God uses
something so simple and so relatable to remind us of our growth in Him.
When my husband, baby,
and I moved back to my home state of Kentucky, I was not sure what to
expect. This was the place to
which I swore I would never return. When I was a senior in high school, I
couldn’t wait to get out, and here we were coming back with a brand new baby,
trying to make a living with a start-up business and trying to reintegrate
ourselves into the local church unsure of what the future would hold. To be honest, motherhood was not what I
expected it to be. As much as I
loved my daughter and my new role, I became very weary about my identity in
Christ because I didn’t feel like I knew who I was anymore. I desired to serve
in a much larger ministry role, but also wanted to devote all my time to my
newborn. I was so torn inside. I began to resent my husband for being able to
get out of the house all the time and mingle with people, even if it was at
work. After all, I’m the extrovert of the family. Being a licensed minister, I
felt very pressured from my own expectations to fill a much larger role. I
don’t know if it was post-partum depression, or what, but I was unhappy and my
joy was lost. I felt like I was in a deep pit far from God. I was letting
everything else define me instead of my identity being ROOTED in Christ. I
prayed, read my Bible, and finally felt like I heard the whisper of the Holy
Spirit tell me very clearly that this season of my life is to become rooted. In
the five years of my marriage we had moved six times! We never seemed to
“settle.” I blame part of it on the vagabond bone in me and my love for travel,
but mostly because I think I had always been afraid to get comfortable in one
place because I was afraid I would forget the calling of God on my life. However, now I know how important it is
to be rooted. How can you establish solid relationships or a solid foundation
unless you become rooted? As it turns out, this season of being rooted has been
one of the greatest learning experiences for me.
After finally putting
down some roots (literally and figuratively), I felt like there was some
pruning to be done in my life. Pruning is cutting off the weaker parts of a
plant in order to have the other parts grow stronger. In the analogy of pruning
my spiritual life, it meant examining my life and acknowledging my own
struggles and sin, confessing, and moving forward. Part of that included un-forgiveness
I was harboring in my heart towards people that had hurt me in the past. This
process was very hard, but the freedom I felt after the long process of being
pruned really made me grow tremendously!
And here we are at
flourishing.
I do realize that our theme is flourish, and I’ve just spent
all this time talking about being rooted and pruned, but I think these first two steps are absolutely essential. If
you don’t admit there is sin or un-forgiveness in your life, you are held back
by your own choices. God will love you and extend His grace to you, but if you
don’t deal with the sin in your life and confess, you simply will not flourish.
This is a continual process in our lives because we will always be less than
perfect. If you don’t have a place of worship or a place to become genuinely
connected with like-minded Christians, your roots will not go deep. Another way to be rooted in your
personal walk with God is to spend time with Him in the Word and to keep the
lines of communication open. Even
if you feel like your prayers are falling on deaf ears, stand on the promises
He has given you as well as His faithfulness.
When I found myself in a very
dark place, I remembered the promises of God for my life. I know he has a
calling on my life, and even if my current situation doesn’t look like what I
expected, He has ordered my steps.
God has always provided for me, and looking back, everything in my life
up to that point seemed to be timed perfectly. This, for me, was a sign of
God’s faithfulness in my life.
The Scripture focus
for our Flourish series is found in Deuteronomy 11:18-21. It emphasizes the importance of keeping
God’s words and promises close—in our hearts, in our homes, and teaching them
to our children. In fact, the
whole book of Deuteronomy was written to remind the Isrealites to set
themselves apart to be a godly nation. This set of verses was intended to
remind them that doing so would reap God’s promises and allow them flourish and
to grow in the land that He promised them.
I love that there are so many stories about the Isrealites
for us to relate to as well. God picked a less-than-perfect nation to obey his
laws, and to trust in Him and to reap the benefits of doing so. When we look at
their history, the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. Not only was
that difficult, but they also had many enemies to face throughout that very
long season. God had many wonderful promises for these people, but they
struggled, too. The history of the Israelites is nothing short of a roller
coaster ride. There were many ups and downs. They fought many battles,
fraternized with the enemies of God, sinned, repented, sinned again, and
repented again. Unfortunately, in the very end, they didn’t flourish as much as
they could have.
We can learn from their history. We should always keep His word in our hearts, minds, and
family. We should be rooted with the right people, and we should repent when we
have let sin rule in our lives. All of this may sound cliché, but from my own
personal journey I have learned all of this to be true. I know this season in
my life will eventually turn into something else, but I am so happy to be where
God has placed me, to know the people I know, and to know the promises of His
Word in my life. Living in this knowledge and freedom gives me the foundation
to flourish.
As you (hopefully) know, we had a little New Year giveaway going on throughout last week, ending on Friday. So.... we would like to announce the lucky winner of an adorable hand-lettered apron. And the winner is....
JESSICA WEEMS!
Congratulations! We hope you LOVE this apron. Thank you to all who participated in the giveaway. We just wish we had one for everyone! Hey there's an idea... matching aprons for all The Pearl Press ladies. Hmmm...
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