Latest / Armed Anchored Adorned / A sweet invitation
Transcript
- Armed Anchored & Adorned: was this for you today? You're not alone. God whispered these things to my soul first. And then he whispered, there's more. When you hear that, who do you think of? Who stirs in your heart when you hear there's more? Pray about sharing this with them. Yep, them. Yep, you. Remember, we don't go to church. We are the church. Every one of us has a start and a finish line. Every day we get to choose how we will run that race. Will we choose ordinary or counterfeit or will we choose that abundant life that Jesus died to give us? Welcome to the Armed, Anchored and Adorned podcast. I'm so glad you're here. Well hey, how's it going? ⁓ I just got back from a retreat that I do every other month. This is my third year. I'm just beginning my third year. It's been incredible. ⁓ If the Lord ever draws you to something like that, do. ⁓ But I wanted to share an experience with you. So it's not my first time at this retreat and the Lord had invited me to fast before this, before as like a cleansing and moving me out and making space for Him. And I had kind of arranged it in my mind. I'm like, oh, this is perfect. My husband was out of town. It was just gonna be me and my youngest son, Luke. and ⁓ you know because that makes it easier you know I didn't have to cook a big meal and then everything changed and my older son was coming too and then and then my husband got back early so I'm in this middle of this fast and I started getting really grumpy and I have fasted many times. I really have not experienced that. ⁓ don't say that pridefully. It is just where my heart has been. I've been like, I'm choosing this. I'm doing this as a, like I entered the fast, but it didn't go as I was planning. And so I just got really grumpy. Like I was was not nice this week. Yeah, don't worry, I've already repented to my husband. So, hey, forgive me. Friday morning is I go ⁓ and I got ⁓ and I was my things washed my hair ⁓ you know, I ⁓ curled my hair, did my hair the I normally ⁓ like it was on my way to retreat. And get there and I start really talking with the Lord and I was kind of floored, honestly. The idea in my heart, the way I believe the Lord calls us to scripture, to fast in scripture is to make more room for Him. Not just, yes, deny ourselves, but... in Matthew 6, 16, right after the Lord's Prayer. Moreover, when you fast, please read that. He does, he does say when. We need it. Our souls need it. So that's just a little encouragement, sister, from your sister heart. When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites. with a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces. ⁓ was my face disfigured this week? Yes, it was. But they may appear to men to be fasting. It wasn't my intention, but I was just grumpy. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. but you when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you do not appear to them to be fasting, but to your father who is in the secret place and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Now, again, I am not sharing this so that you look at me like I'm the super holy person, because I'm not, it's literally why I fast, to get rid of the icky places in me. when I got there, I just was realizing I really didn't replace what I was getting rid of with him. ⁓ And that's to me what fasting is about. That's what I've, I've experienced that. ⁓ I gotta scoop ⁓ me and let him fill me in. I must decrease so that he can increase. ⁓ So I'm just kind of grieving and lamenting about it. And I'm like, I can't believe I did that. Like, wow, Lord, I'm so sorry. And I journaled and I was inside and I was in my journal kind of talking about it. I did some worship and just still feeling kind of heavy about it. One of my favorite things that I get to do there is The house is on a lake and ⁓ she has paddleboards and but I'm a paddleboard girl. So ⁓ I went out on boat, on the water, ⁓ on the paddleboard, and was just talking to the Lord and the way out was like super easy. And then I'm laying there and usually when I'm on the water, like ⁓ I am talking with Lord. ⁓ I am talking, he's and I'm I'm not hearing much. And I'm like, okay, you know, I'm really sorry, Lord. I need to turn from that. And then like, I kept thinking about my hair. Okay, this is going to sound, this is pretty embarrassing to be quite honest, but I'm telling you anyway. So I'm thinking about my hair. I've been praying a lot about my hair, which doesn't look fabulous right now. It's kind of the point, kind of why I'm doing this right now I'm, I'm in my forties. I'm feeling like the change in my hair. I'm like, Lord, can you please heal this? I'm, I'm thinking a lot about my hair. Like I need a cut, but I don't want to cut. And I had a friend years ago, my beloved Abby. Hi, Abby. Love you. She, I was almost, almost in the same. place with my hair and I was like I really need a haircut but I know they're gonna make me cut more than I want. I don't know if you relate to that. And she looks at me with this sweet loving heart and face and her cute little southern draw and she's like just don't make it more than hair. I was like oh snap and I wrote it down and my daughter and I we still talk about it and it can that can go for anything don't make it more than dot dot dot like we talk about that. And that's exactly what I was doing. And I was doing it again. And I was just, and he said to me, I'm still in the water here. And he whispered. How you love me is what makes you beautiful. And I was like, you're right, Lord, I agree. You're right, you're right. This is meaningless. It is not important. I know you care about every little thing. but I was making it more about me. And so I was just kind of talking with him more about it. I'm like, you're right. and I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was making it more. And then he brought me to the scripture that is the scripture he's given me, us, for being adorned. And it's 1 Peter 3, 3 through 4. I'm actually going to read it because sometimes when I summarize it, I don't, I want his straight words. So 1 Peter 3, 3 through 4. Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel. Rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. So I know that verse. I've read it a hundred times. and he drew me back to it and I was like, ⁓ yes, Lord, you're right. right. ⁓ And ⁓ I'm. I'm kind of marveling at like how difficult it was. Like it was easy to go out and it was getting, it was kind of hard to get back. The wind was pulling me and then I would stop for a second paddling and then I would kind of drift back where the current was taking me. And I was like, man, this is really weird. This is challenging. And the Lord's like, yeah, it's gonna, sometimes it's gonna be challenging. And. was kind of realizing. I really was this week and I don't mean always but this week I was very focused on that. I did not draw near to Him. ⁓ Like I know my soul needed. The whole reason I was fasting was because I know I need to be closer to Him. I look forward to this retreat time and I want to make more space for him. I'm headed back, I'm getting closer, and I hear him say, get in the water and be made new. Okay, so this is gonna sound really ridiculous to some of you. And if you don't understand day one hair, you just made it fall flat for you. That's okay. there's any guys listening, this is going to sound absolutely ridiculous. And it's actually pretty embarrassing, but I'm sharing it anyway, because I know I'm not alone in some ways. It may not be your hair, it may be something else. But I asked the Lord if I was supposed to share this and he said, tell them. here we go. And he, uh, so yeah, he said, get in the water and be made new. And I'm like, But, but it's day one. I don't want to do that. But my hair, looks, it looks good. So I know you're like, you're on a paddle board. Didn't you expect to go in the water? I don't mean this pridefully, but in a lake, it's extraordinarily rare for me to fall off. I just don't. In other circumstances, yes. And a yes, is it a possibility? Yeah. And I was willing to take that risk because it was a very low risk. I did not fall off. But I'm sitting there like... But this was like I just did my hair hours ago, Lord. Like I just did it. I'm gonna jump in the lake water. Like really Lord? Like are you sure? I really hear him? Was that a hit? I don't know if that was him. And then I kind of heard like, it's not a command. It's an invitation. It's like, I want what you want. I want to be made new. But Lord, it's windy. What if the board, I gave him all the reasons. I'm like, can I just do it in the pool? I don't know why that would have been better. This is chemicals. least this is natural. ⁓ Like, Lord, my... It's windy, the board's gonna blow away, like... And like, ⁓ Lord, what if I thought, what if I get in and I can't get back on the board? Like that's dangerous. And I really didn't hear much because they were just excuses. I mean, he just was really quiet and gentle with me. I'm like. Lord, I prayed anything, anywhere, anytime. I told you anything, anywhere, anytime. And I really do mean it. And you know, I'll jump in. Do you really want me to? And then he repeated, it's not a command. It's an invitation. Get in the water and be made new. So I jumped in, saw my hair looks like this. I jumped in and I jumped right back out, got on the board just fine. The board didn't float away. And the second I was fully on the board and I just kind of looked to him and he said, you love me is what makes you beautiful and it still kind of chokes me up because like I kind of sat there and cried a minute well not like sob or anything but just like wow it was such a I know, but sometimes it just gets so wrapped up in what's here. wrapped up in me and boy I was I felt like I had been made new. And the way he said exactly the same thing, the preciousness, the sweet whisper he said, like he knew I was going to jump in. He knew I would. And I'm so grateful that I prayed that prayer. And believe me, for those of you that are listening, think I'm being absolutely ridiculous. I know. That's kind of my point. And maybe there's a place where you're ridiculous and it's not day one here for you. And I know this wasn't a big giant sacrifice. I'm fully aware of that and have experienced other sacrifices. This was just my flesh and how I battled and how I wrestled it's so it. Like don't. Don't wrestle. Like I almost grieve a little bit that it wasn't just, okay Lord, like immediate, just jump in. Like I hate that I had to think about it as long as I did. I mean, I didn't have to, but I did. And that, I hate that. Almost to the point where I got back and I wrote my whole experience down. And I wrote, Lord, I don't even know how you put up with me. And gently he said, my grace is sufficient for you. I don't know. I don't know if you can relate. I don't know if you look at me like I'm a total nut job. You're not wrong. That's literally why I need Jesus. mean, I'm just a stupid crazy girl. And yeah, I'm sharing with you one of my weird crazy moments, but I am stupid and crazy, but no more than any other human. This is just my particular flavor of crazy. And if it is going to nudge anybody closer to the Lord, I'm here for it. I'm here to share. If I can share this, if the Lord sees this in me, I don't care who else does. Here I am. I'm a crazy mess, but no more than anybody else. it's very laughable. I know it's and was still really precious. was still really ⁓ just a sweet whisper from the Lord and I'm grateful for it and I hope you hear his sweet whispers to you too in your crazy mess. I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful His grace is sufficient for me. And I went on to have a wonderful weekend with crazy messy hair and who cares? Who cares? So what? I know, but sometimes we get stuck in our own head and what we have planned. And what we think is the right thing and what we think we need or want when really all we want and need. is his presence. It's really all we want and need. It really is. Everything else is extra nothing compared to his presence. but I just want to encourage anybody that's wrestling with just jumping in, whatever he's calling you to, if you're wrestling with anything with him that you know, he's like, come on, just, just get in, just get in, do it. Don't wait anymore. Don't wait anymore. Don't give him any more excuses. Just, just pray anything, anywhere any time with your whole heart and just, okay, Lord. And if you delay, His grace is sufficient for you. There's no condemnation in Jesus. And I will also encourage you, if you haven't fasted, talk to him about that. Talk to him about it. There's no shame in that. It may just not have been something you're used to. That's okay. Talk to him about it though, because it says when, when we fast, it's for us. It's for us here and now. And I will tell you the biggest moves and breakthroughs and clearing of the noise in my heart and soul. I mean, just what I experienced. mean, that I didn't even do it right. And I still experienced his goodness. And that's what it's all about. It's worth everything. Anything. It really is. but I just wanted to encourage you guys with that I hope the Lord whispers something to you in it. it's just me, but I have been asking everybody else what's for dinner. ⁓ We had pizza and I was not mad about it. It was enough to cook it. It was brought to my house and it was just exactly what I needed and wanted. I hope you all have an amazing day and trust the Lord. Whatever he wants, it's better than what you want. Bye.