This weekend was relaxing and thought provoking. It was my first evening with my new mentor Maggie Ellis and Oswald Chambers excelled himself! If you've got a few minutes I just want to share what he wrote yesterday in "My Utmost for His Highest" (MUHH), it hit me squarely between the eyes as I read and wrote at my dressing table...
"In much patience, in afflictions, in necesities, in distress." 2 Cor 6:4
"It takes almighty grace to take the next step when there is no vision and no spectator - the next step in devotion, the next step in your study, in your reading, in your kitchen; the next step in your duty, when there is no vision from God, no enthusiasm and no spectator.
It takes far more of the grace of God, far more conscious drawing upon God to take that step, than it does to preach the gospel.
Every Christian has to partake of what was the essence of incarnation, he must bring the thing down into flesh and blood activities and work it out through the finger tips. We flag when there is no vision, no uplift, but just the common round, the trivial task. The thing that tells in the long run for God and for men is the steady persevering work in the unseen, and the only way to keep the life uncrushed is to live looking at God.
Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the Risen Christ, and it will be impossible for the drudgery to damp you. Continually get away from the pettiness and paltriness of mind and thought out into the thirteenth chapter of St John's Gospel."
Pretty challenging stuff... It was the perfect meditation before bundling up against the cold and trudging round to Maggie's. I've written many times over the last six months that I'm trying to build foundations into my life that will help me move from short sprints to the long sustainable marathon of life. Meeting with Maggie is another step in that direction...
She was pretty fantastic actually, she would listen to me then ask me questions that helped me look at situations from different perspectives. She's unnervingly quick minded and seems to have the ability to file things away she wants to come back to in what I've said. I have homework! Some pretty challenging questions that'll hopefully help me understand myself better and help me move forward. I found myself talking about things that I had no intention of mentioning and being asked questions I had no answer to. The perfectionist and people pleaser in me was scared but I left feeling like I was incredibly lucky to have someone who's gonna help me shake things up a bit.
I guess I'm happy as long as I'm moving forward. This seems to be my next stepping stone... xc