So well delivered. To go off of your Thomas Merton quote, I love this story, as delivered by Dale G. Renlund:
“Consider this insight provided by the 18th-century Hasidic scholar Zusya of Anipol. Zusya was a renowned teacher who began to fear as he approached death. His disciples asked, “Master, why do you tremble? You’ve lived a good life; surely God will grant you a great reward.”
Zusya said: “If God says to me, ‘Zusya, why were you not another Moses?’ I will say, ‘Because you didn’t give me the greatness of soul that you gave Moses.’ And if I stand before God and He says, ‘Zusya, why were you not another Solomon?’ I will say, ‘Because you didn’t give me the wisdom of Solomon.’ But, alas, what will I say if I stand before my Maker and He says, ‘Zusya, why were you not Zusya? Why were you not the man I gave you the capacity to be?’ Ah, that is why I tremble.”
Wow. Wonderful! This brings to mind an ongoing struggle in my heart: the fear of not living up to my "potential." However, I've noticed that this anxiety really stems from the fear that I won't live up to the expectations of other people who have told me throughout my life what they see in me... but God does not require me to live up to other people's expectations! He only requires me to daily answer the call of His Spirit, to step into the work he has prepared for me.
This is such a wholesome depiction of God’s nearness and our distraction. The kitchen sink is one of my favorite places to talk with Him too. He does a lot of decluttering of the human heart in mundane tasks, I think.
If this was written for no one else, it was written for me. Absolutely beautiful, and a sincerely needed perspective. I look forward to digging into every author you mentioned here going forward.
Thank you for this beautiful sharing! I was noticing this in my own life yesterday. I do love silence and being alone with God; however, we are a family with four kids, a plumbing business and often I’m not alone or in a quiet place. What I find myself most struggling with is the summertime chill and fun adventures: when we are outside playing, laughing, being silly with one another. For example, yesterday we had a family boat day, and it was so fun. I noticed my heart in the midst of it thinking of Him with this longing. So, right there on the boat, whenever I thought of him, I would speak to him from my heart. They were short wistful and heartfelt prayers. And, I think He was just as delighted with my intermittent whispers with Him throughout the day. Perhaps I while try this again today - true communion.
This is the exactly story of my life too! Not being able to focus on good, deep times of prayer, always getting distracted by my own thoughts and feelings, or other things and then I learned that God is with me when I just simply be who I am. That's why I started writing because I felt that it was when I created things that I felt God's presence the strongest and when He spoke to me the most.
Yeah, I am definitely wired that way as well. I feel very close to God when I'm writing, or crafting a sermon or even doing practical ministry like sitting down with someone and counseling them. I feel His pleasure when I serve Him in those ways. But I've also learned that I need times of stillness in my life. But I just had the wrong expectations for what those times of stillness were supposed to look like. Giving myself compassion and mercy has been a huge catalyst for growth.
Yeah I agree! I also think that the key is to learn that it's ok for our spiritual lives to not look exactly like the deep lives that others had before us. We all feel God's presence differently and pray differently so we can't compare our spiritual lives to others and shame ourselves when we're not sitting alone "spending hours in God's presence" like others might have. I can't do that, but I can sure spend some quality time in God's presence when I'm hanging out with my best friend talking about our lives with God.
and I can definitely feel God's presence when I'm songwriting or working on a post on here. It's in those moments that I've realized that I'm actually sitting at the feet of Jesus and He's teaching me who He is. I'm not writing just to be creative, I'm spending time with HIm.
This just answered a silent question I’ve been asking myself for years. There are so many faithful men who love Jesus who I know spend hours before the Lord each day before they set foot into work, yet I find myself praying and meditating while at work on the golf course. I find that my mind slows down to think and rest on the things of God when my hands are busy.
“Right away, I saw something shift in me. Because for the first time in a long time, I was engaging in a daily rhythm that didn’t revolve around my phone or laptop.”
So well delivered. To go off of your Thomas Merton quote, I love this story, as delivered by Dale G. Renlund:
“Consider this insight provided by the 18th-century Hasidic scholar Zusya of Anipol. Zusya was a renowned teacher who began to fear as he approached death. His disciples asked, “Master, why do you tremble? You’ve lived a good life; surely God will grant you a great reward.”
Zusya said: “If God says to me, ‘Zusya, why were you not another Moses?’ I will say, ‘Because you didn’t give me the greatness of soul that you gave Moses.’ And if I stand before God and He says, ‘Zusya, why were you not another Solomon?’ I will say, ‘Because you didn’t give me the wisdom of Solomon.’ But, alas, what will I say if I stand before my Maker and He says, ‘Zusya, why were you not Zusya? Why were you not the man I gave you the capacity to be?’ Ah, that is why I tremble.”
Wow. Wonderful! This brings to mind an ongoing struggle in my heart: the fear of not living up to my "potential." However, I've noticed that this anxiety really stems from the fear that I won't live up to the expectations of other people who have told me throughout my life what they see in me... but God does not require me to live up to other people's expectations! He only requires me to daily answer the call of His Spirit, to step into the work he has prepared for me.
Absolutely! Carry on in His great work. 👏🏻
This is such a wholesome depiction of God’s nearness and our distraction. The kitchen sink is one of my favorite places to talk with Him too. He does a lot of decluttering of the human heart in mundane tasks, I think.
If this was written for no one else, it was written for me. Absolutely beautiful, and a sincerely needed perspective. I look forward to digging into every author you mentioned here going forward.
I am so glad, my friend!
Thank you for this beautiful sharing! I was noticing this in my own life yesterday. I do love silence and being alone with God; however, we are a family with four kids, a plumbing business and often I’m not alone or in a quiet place. What I find myself most struggling with is the summertime chill and fun adventures: when we are outside playing, laughing, being silly with one another. For example, yesterday we had a family boat day, and it was so fun. I noticed my heart in the midst of it thinking of Him with this longing. So, right there on the boat, whenever I thought of him, I would speak to him from my heart. They were short wistful and heartfelt prayers. And, I think He was just as delighted with my intermittent whispers with Him throughout the day. Perhaps I while try this again today - true communion.
A resounding YES and AMEN.
Love love love this Aaron! Pray like a tree! So good :)
🌳🙏
This is the exactly story of my life too! Not being able to focus on good, deep times of prayer, always getting distracted by my own thoughts and feelings, or other things and then I learned that God is with me when I just simply be who I am. That's why I started writing because I felt that it was when I created things that I felt God's presence the strongest and when He spoke to me the most.
Yeah, I am definitely wired that way as well. I feel very close to God when I'm writing, or crafting a sermon or even doing practical ministry like sitting down with someone and counseling them. I feel His pleasure when I serve Him in those ways. But I've also learned that I need times of stillness in my life. But I just had the wrong expectations for what those times of stillness were supposed to look like. Giving myself compassion and mercy has been a huge catalyst for growth.
Yeah I agree! I also think that the key is to learn that it's ok for our spiritual lives to not look exactly like the deep lives that others had before us. We all feel God's presence differently and pray differently so we can't compare our spiritual lives to others and shame ourselves when we're not sitting alone "spending hours in God's presence" like others might have. I can't do that, but I can sure spend some quality time in God's presence when I'm hanging out with my best friend talking about our lives with God.
and I can definitely feel God's presence when I'm songwriting or working on a post on here. It's in those moments that I've realized that I'm actually sitting at the feet of Jesus and He's teaching me who He is. I'm not writing just to be creative, I'm spending time with HIm.
This just answered a silent question I’ve been asking myself for years. There are so many faithful men who love Jesus who I know spend hours before the Lord each day before they set foot into work, yet I find myself praying and meditating while at work on the golf course. I find that my mind slows down to think and rest on the things of God when my hands are busy.
“Right away, I saw something shift in me. Because for the first time in a long time, I was engaging in a daily rhythm that didn’t revolve around my phone or laptop.”
So good.