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Let’s be careful for what we are asking God to do in 2022.
Yeah, I know that the Ancient One of Old is sovereign and knows the ending as well as the beginning. However, when I brought my weary soul to Her for rest, I guess I was not specific enough leaving up to chance what that would look like.
Here’s what rest looked like for me: five (5) days of being locked up in my bedroom due to a possible Covid exposure, which manifested as an Upper Respiratory Infection. I’m eternally thankful that I tested negative for all variants of Covid and negative for the flu.
Me: So what gives God?
God: Rest for your weary soul.
Me: Being locked up for five days is not exactly how I dreamed rest would look. I was thinking sitting by a water front, drinking coffee and reading a good book.
God: Shut up!
Me:
During this time of God-imposed solitude, I believe I got what I needed to forge ahead with intentionality and purpose. This great awakening came through Jeremiah 6:16, which states, “The Lord proclaims: Stop at the crossroads and look around; ask for the ancient paths.Where is the good way? Then walk in it and find a resting place for yourselves. But yousaid, “We won’t go!”
I mulled over this ancient biblical text written to a community, which had turned from the righteous ways of God by doing what they wanted to do because they thought they were big and bad enough to do it. Their wrongdoings included corruption, disobedience and worshipping other gods. Oooowee, Sherri, are you saying that you’ve been dabbling in corruption, disobedience and worshipping other gods?
Yes, I have! The times that I have chosen not to respond to God’s voice to start, stop or continue something, the result has been catastrophic to my soul. Thus, I ended up down a path of weariness that has been difficult to get off. As I reflect on my journey, there’s been much good for me and others, but some of that good has come at a price that I no longer want to pay or have the energy to pay.
In a quite, gentle voice, God whispers “you will flourish when you find the good way.” THE GOOD WAY? Yes, the GOOD WAY. Heck, I thought I was doing good!
Of course, I had to analyze what Jeremiah meant by good in the ancient Hebrew language. Good denotes fruitfulness, prosperity and well pleasing. While I was doing good, I was not good. In many ways I was busy but not prospering. There are many reasons of how I got on this path, but I choose to talk about how to move forward.
My future is tied to the following:
· Stopping: Making a conscious decision to cease from what I’m doing
· Seeing: Mulling over what’s working and not working and the consequences attached.
· Selecting: Choosing the good path for my life.
You see our way of showing up in the world is tied to God’s ultimate purpose or path for our lives. Getting off of the path is easy. Returning takes some work, but it is doable if you are willing to give up wrong for right. Again, wrong does not necessarily indicate a crime. It does indicate a person, place or thing may not be right or good for you. When returning to the right path, where fruitfulness and flourishing abide, there may be some short-term turbulence, but you shall prevail.
Now that I’ve told you all of my business, I must ask you some questions? Are you on the right path? If so, how is your being on the wrong path working out for you. Is your path good, fruitful, and prospering? If not, Stop, See, and Select. Then bask in a perpetual state of Selah!
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Let me hear from you. Leave a comment of your thoughts concerning your own path.