Stops and Starts

Sometimes if we want to hear God and experience the fruits of the Holy Spirit, we have to be obedient to God’s gentle nudging.

When I was planning on exercising in the middle of last week, it had been a few days. I was completely off any sort of schedule and was itching to get outside and sweat a little. When I walk, I walk briskly and sometimes jog between mailboxes for good measure. My path is right at two miles and that works beautifully for me. I have no desire to train for a marathon, triathlon or iron man, thank-you very much. I just want to stay in decent shape.

I kept having this nudge to bring my camera along. I didn’t want to bring my camera because it’s kind of big and I have to hold onto it in one hand and I can’t get a good rhythm going when I’m holding it. Furthermore, if I’m going to stop and take pictures along the way, that too, requires stopping.

However, I had really been in prayer about my blog posts. I had felt kind of empty over the past couple of weeks and had been praying for inspiration. God often inspires me through the things I see on my walks. As I write this, taking my camera, really seems like a no-brainer. But, at the time, I struggled with it. I wanted to keep my rhythm and my time and therein lies the rub right?

Me, my, and mine are perhaps three of the most dangerous words to our journey with God. Think about it. How many times does it come down to our own will for our lives versus His will? I call myself trying to be obedient and trying to listen for His voice. I lament when He won’t give me those burning bush moments with specific instructions. Yet, here I was, with a very easy request to follow. “Take your camera.”

I wonder how many prayers we think go unanswered, really are answered. We just think God is not listening and responding because He doesn’t do it in the way that we would like for Him to. How many times do we miss the answers because we aren’t obedient to gentle and quiet nudging.

I finally gave in that day and was rewarded richly for my obedience. I felt like I saw God everywhere I looked and I snapped photo after photo. There were many post ideas that came out of that simple nudging. I have already shared a few with you and have had more comments than ever about how you were touched by the message.

My obedience to such a simple nudge had the Holy Spirit flowing. Perhaps if we would like to experience more of the fruits of the Spirit, like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, we need to be obedient to those gentle promptings that we know in our heart come from God.

Perhaps we need to be willing to walk to His rhythm and not our own, realizing that stopping and starting, is part of the journey, whether we like it or not. It’s not about racing to the finish. It’s about learning to listen for His voice and appreciating the trip.

How do you do with stops and starts? I’d love to hear from you.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂