While approaching the beginning of the New Year, God laid a word on my heart: ABUNDANT. I wrote it down. I shared in a previous post that there are times when I know, “This is a Whisper; write it down.” And I do, often with the letter “L” for listening; I jot a word, phrase, or scripture that bubbles up and I include it, at the top of my journal page, knowing it’s going to be a message I will return to.
Abundant: it’s a word that keeps showing up. It’s my word for 2019. It has become anchored within me.
A wonderful quote that Paul Young shares often is~
The opposite of more is “enough”.
I have learned to settle into the “enough”. From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. John 1:16
Ya know, I think often how cancer became for me a “slowing tool”. My life was traveling at such speed and cancer led me to life’s “Yield” sign, giving me reason to pause, catch my breath and begin reflecting more internally. Focusing on what in life really mattered became my detour.
I remember attending my last summer session at Shalem Institute, completing my certification in Spiritual Guidance. Every morning I would take a long walk on the sacred grounds of the monastery there. The grounds were so holy and quiet; such an inviting sacred space. Along the way I approached this “Slow” Sign. It spoke to me in a profound way and I took notice of it’s deeper meaning. I took a picture of it ( included here) and it remains with me as God’s reminder tool; “Remember to pause, take notice…be still, become aware.”
A huge revelation for me lately has been the word “terminal”. I often question, “Why me Lord? My illness was not terminal. Why is it, I was so drawn into this stillness, this awakening of Presence that caused me to put the brakes on, take notice and begin to truly see you with eyes of my heart? More importantly, my question was, why aren’t those, facing more difficult illnesses, not really seeing you?”
Terminal; it’s not always about the severity of the medical illness. Terminal; it’s the severity of our spiritual illness…seemed to be his whispered reply.
The greater, more terminal disease of our time is Busyness and it is aggressive in nature. It moves quickly spreading beyond control providing unhealthy cells of fear, anxiety and little faith. The thing is, oftentimes, our medical disease becomes the antidote. It’s what counteracts and heals. It forces us to slow down, pause, wake up and begin to show up to “live”, truly “live”.
When we move through life at such high speed, with little to no time to pause, pray and listen for God’s still, quiet, comforting voice, our soul becomes diseased and we are in need of a Greater Physician.
I speak from experience: cancer became the antidote to my diseased soul.
Cancer became my healing grace.
Twelve years of daily discipline, turning to prayer, communing with Him, coming to Know Him has allowed me to diagnose and recognize this spiritual disease, realizing, ONLY time spent with Him can begin to heal it.
We are given grace for one day. It’s a gift. It’s intended to be given to us free of worry. We have it only for today. Tomorrow it is gone.
As God has peeled away the many layers over time, He has given me strength for the day, every day. Where I cannot depend on the world to satisfy or heal me of whatever “illnesses” attack me, I do know and trust PRAYER HEALS, MY FAITH HEALS…He heals.
So here’s the thing…The apostle Paul, John the Baptist… and I include myself, experienced a Great Light; the One we have been called to witness to. Whether then or now, He calls us to help others “see” the way He is calling us to see and to believe in the way that is Truth. And through coming to know the Truth by way of the Holy Spirit, with that brings a heart of conviction and spiritual confidence combined with an eagerness to share.
So, in closing here, I can only speak from my own experience from years and years of deep Union “with” our True Life Source; that He calls us to experience ABUNDANCE, no matter our circumstances. I can with bold confidence say, the closest place we can begin any type of healing is with Him. He is the only True Physician of our time.
Lately, as God has directed me to His word, Abundant, I have begun my own self- study of this grace word.
I believe as we begin to heal our spiritual disease our remission leads us to ABUNDANCE.
“The thief came only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
Do not allow an illness, addiction, or broken relationship be the thief. There is a Power larger than the “thief”.
The apostle Paul was so confident that he stated that God is able to do a lot more than we think he will and in fact, he can do “far more abundantly than all we ask or think, meaning He will bless us, maybe not materialistically and maybe not every prayer will be answered in the way we would like, yet he still can bless us with other things, answering prayers in other ways and it’s all according to the power at work within us”, not of our own doing but of His doing as the Holy Spirit moves.
I truly believe we can begin to conquer the “terminal” disease of our times through finding contentment in Him, but this takes diligent seeking and time spent in quiet and silence.
Like Paul, “I have come to know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Remember, He can do far more abundantly than we think or imagine. We must let go and trust.
We must begin to simply….Be still and KNOW.
“I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness.” ~ Love, Jesus
The Gap 