I was sitting on the front porch swing this morning like I normally do when it\u2019s not 110 degrees. \u00a0Suddenly, my dog, \u201cStupid\u201d, ran off after a squirrel.\u00a0 She\u2019s cute as a bug and tiny, but she thinks she\u2019s as big as our German Shepherd.\u00a0 She\u2019s also\u2026. #1 not named \u201cStupid\u201d, #2 Not very smart and #3 Infuriatingly stubborn.\u00a0 I sat on the porch yelling for her to come back because the number of times that our neighbors have picked her up out of the road and brought her home is embarrassing.\u00a0 She likes to chase cars, hence, the nick name of \u201cStupid\u201d.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I couldn\u2019t see where she was so I waited 10 minutes while yelling at her like a crazy woman before I got up to find her.\u00a0 I guess she\u2019s learning because, uncharacteristically, she wasn\u2019t in the road. \u00a0She was comfortably sitting under the tree in the comfy sand just taking in the morning. Because doing the same thing over and over and expecting something to change is normal for a crazy person, I kept calling her like I had been for 15 minutes. \u00a0She continued to give me that \u201cI\u2019m not moving but you\u2019re funny\u201d look. So, \u00a0I finally \u00a0walked over to pick her up.<\/p>\n
As I got to where she was, I stopped.<\/p>\n
It was so different!<\/p>\n
That very spot in the yard was the exact place where the morning breeze was blowing through in such a refreshing and beautiful way.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m all about aesthetics and how something feels so maybe you\u2019ll think I\u2019m crazy but in this exact spot, it was beautiful. “Stupid” had figured something out that I hadn’t. \u00a0On the porch, it may not have been 110\u2019 but it was humid and stuffy.\u00a0 I\u2019d been comfortable, but I\u2019d been ignorant to the atmosphere just 30 feet away from me.\u00a0 An atmosphere that was fresh, cool, invigorating and beautiful. But \u201cstupid\u201d wasn\u2019t stupid.\u00a0 She\u2019d found it and she wasn\u2019t about to move.<\/p>\n
To be fair, I recognized how nice it was in that spot but I picked her up so I wouldn\u2019t have to chase her down \u00a0in my PJs and brought her back to the porch without much thought.<\/p>\n
Enter Spotify.<\/p>\n
I like to listen to new music when I can so I noticed a new song playing when I got back to the swing. It was called “Catch the Wind” so I was thinking about that breeze and listening to the words \u00a0as I looked over my yard. Then I wondered, \u201cHow often, Lord, do I stay in places where I’m comfortable instead of stepping out into the uncomfortable? \u00a0Instead of stepping out into the places where I could find the movement of your Spirit? The flow of who you are? How often do I miss catching the wind?\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew God was speaking to my heart.\u00a0 Maybe he\u2019s speaking to yours.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s a place of comfort, a place of staleness or a place of pain in which you find some sort of security\u2026are you in a place in which you aren\u2019t feeling the move of the Holy Spirit?\u00a0 He is active! He is vibrant! He refreshes! He resuscitates those things that are dead!<\/p>\n
My heart is crying for that.<\/p>\n
For God\u2019s people to step out of what they know and walk boldly into what He is doing.<\/p>\n
The power that He is.<\/p>\n
The love that He shares.<\/p>\n
The truth that He speaks.<\/p>\n
The peace that He pours out.<\/p>\n
The salvation that He lavishes.<\/p>\n
It takes humility. It takes submission.\u00a0 It takes obedience and abandoning our own agenda.\u00a0 It takes trust and faith and hope that there is something new and powerful that only God can do.\u00a0 It takes worship and laying down our desires for His desires!<\/p>\n
It can be painful\u2026no\u2026torturous.\u00a0 But oh my Lord\u2026it is worth it.<\/p>\n
To stand in the flow of the Holy Spirit and the things that he wants to do in and through us is like nothing in this world! It’s different! It’s beautiful. And it’s my prayer.<\/p>\n
Oh my Jesus\u2026do that in me.\u00a0 Do that in my family.\u00a0 Do that in my church. Do that in your people.<\/p>\n
Help us to reject what is comfortable and step boldly, stubbornly and defiantly into the flow of your Holy Spirit. I don’t want to live another day without it!<\/p>\n
Amen!!<\/p>\n