Showing Up to Ourselves
Reading through the story of the younger son in Luke 15 on Sunday, we noticed that what brings the younger son to the starting line of his journey homeward is that "he came to his senses," or to put it another way, he finally showed up to himself. (v. 17) He stopped distracting himself with wild living or even with hard work, and started to admit what was really going on. "He longed," v. 16 tells us, and this longing eventually led him home. It's a word we heard in our reading in Hebrews yesterday as well, about pilgrims "longing for a better county - a heavenly one."
What if God cares about your longings? What if getting honest about what you really want, what you really need, is the first step on the spiritual journey? Take a few minutes to read this psalm and just sit quietly with Jesus. See what stirs up inside of you. Can you name your longing this morning?
Psalm 42
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
6 My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Bonuses for the week
- A printable fingertip prayer labyrinth with instructions, HERE.
- An invitation to meet up with Brenna and anyone else interested on Thursday night at 6pm to walk the prayer labyrinth in the courtyard of Grace Brethren Church, 3601 Linden Ave. We may grab coffee & pie at Bake N Broil afterwards!