Take a "Time Out" from Being Busy: Encouragment from His Word

I’m technically recycling an old post for this week’s Transparent Thursday, but I genuinely feel like God put it on my heart to re-share these truths from His word.

There’s something about this time of year. We are entering the holiday season with Thanksgiving and then Christmas, and there’s so much rush, rush, rush that seems to start from now until January. I was looking at my calendar for November, and there are maybe 1 or 2 days that don’t have any social events written on them—for the whole month. And I believe that’s true for most in this season of the year.

I love sunsets—especially out here in West Texas. They remind me of Hebrews 13:8—“Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” When I pause and take a "time out" to watch a sunset like the one I watched last week (below), I'm reminded of His faithfulness.

#NoFilter

So, friend, I invite you to take a "time out"—even if just for a few minutes. Read through these ten words from the Lord and drive them into your heart as truth. We serve a good God; He is our Father; He loves us unconditionally. We never have to perform or please to gain His attention or His affection. He is already for us; His love is immeasurable and complete. It already is.

Just ‘be’ in His presence today. Let your weary heart find peace and rest in His word:

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1. Those who expect/wait/hope/trust in me will not be disappointed/ashamed/kept waiting. (Psalm 25:3)
2. I have not forgotten you; you are not passed by. I am El Roi—and I see you. (Gen 16:13)
3. I am 100% for you—so nothing and no one can stand against you. You are more than a conqueror. (Romans 8:31, 37)
4. I am good, and I give good gifts. (James 1:17)
5. I am not withholding blessing from you. I only have your best interest at heart. (Psalm 24:5; Psalm 37:25-26; Psalm 84:11)
6. Everything I do is because I love you. (Deut 7:9; Zeph 3:17; 1 John 3:1)
7. I am with you always; I will never leave you nor forsake you. You are not alone. (Deut 31:6; Joshua 1:5)
8. I have a plan for you—and you can trust that it is good. I order your steps perfectly. (Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 37:23)
9. I will perfect that which concerns you. I am the author and finisher for your faith. (Psalm 138:8; Hebrews 12:2)
10. I am your protector, provider, healer, and comforter. In me, you are complete, made whole, satisfied, filled, and secure. 

God is Abba Father

It has been a hectic couple of weeks, but I have been thinking about this post for a while. If you've been following the attributes from Acts 17: 24-31, I'm on #8 - God is our Daddy. In Acts 17:29, it only briefly refers to us as the offspring of God. Another passage, in Romans 8: 15 - 17, provides a better description:

"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together." 

What I love about this is the reference to our Spirit, which cries out "Abba, Father" - literally, "Daddy, Father!" I can't exactly pinpoint in my life when it happened, but a few years ago, I started praying to God as Daddy and not as a stiff, disconnected Father. I mean, who calls their own father, "Father." It's stiff and formal, right? For me, this change in the way I saw my Heavenly Father was around the same time Paige Allen preached a sermon about being "daughters of inheritance" and not "daughters of reward." 

What this means is that I am already a daughter, I am already accepted in the Beloved. I am saved by grace through faith, which for some reason is easier for me to accept than the fact that as a daughter, I don't have to earn God's love through works. 

I have always been such a pleaser, and similarly, I think I approached God this way. I would think his love were conditioned, as if he were pleased by my good behavior and turned away by my bad behavior. Now, I am not saying God's heart isn't grieved when we sin, but His love is unchanging, unconditional. (I'm told I'll understand this better when I have kids of my own...)

The most radical thing God ever told me in my journey to calling Him and seeing Him as Abba is how much he loved me. I'll never forget it. I was at our ranch in Dickens on a Thursday afternoon, and I desperately needed God to speak to me. He said, 

"Laura, you are my daughter, and I love you so much. Do you know how much I love you? Nothing you do can ever add to or take away from my love for you. It is already infinite."

Wow. It is already infinite! When I got ahold of the truth that nothing I do adds to His love for me and nothing I do takes away from His love for me, it changed my heart. As someone who feels guilty a lot, who fears upsetting someone else a lot, or who worries what someone else might think if I do this or that - this message for me was so freeing. If I pray every day for an hour, God loves me. If I don't pray for a week, God still loves me. 

And for some reason, with this freedom, I was more inclined to serve Him, to obey Him, to please Him. Not because I felt guilty, not because I needed to earn His love or grace again. But because I was falling in love, too. I was free to fall in love in a relationship that's not conditioned; I was free to fall in love because of the powerful way He loved me first.