All I need is You...All I am is Yours...

Lately I feel God telling me,

“Let others Be.”  “Your story is yours alone and is not affected by the stories of those around you.”  “Only you allow yourself to be affected and drawn in to these emotions, but my calling is specific for you and you alone…let others be and focus on being who I created You to be.”  “When the chaos surrounds, I am all you need.” 

“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.
"Don’t you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?” said Shasta.
“There was only one lion,” said the Voice
“What on earth do you mean? I’ve just told you there were at least two the first night, and.."
“There was only one: but he was swift of foot.”
“How do you know?”
“I was the lion.” And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. “I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.”
“Then it was you who wounded Aravis?”
“It was I.”
“But what for?”
“Child,” said the Voice, “I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”
--C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy, Chapter 11

It's Simple but Its Hard...

There is a core to all of us, a deep seeded dwelling that holds the purpose, plan, and personality that God brought us to this earth with. We were made to glorify a king, to use the abilities he uniquely gifted us with to edify and enhance His kingdom. He gave us personalities, giftings, and a purpose that holds no shame, no blame, and no limits in glorifying our Savior. But just as Adam and Eve covered themselves out of shame and embarrassment, we also hide ourselves behind walls of worldly definition, we tell God that who he made us is not complete, that what he gave to us is not enough, and that we need more to be more. (Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame..Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.)

Who do you say I am? God replied " I am who I am" God hides behind no definition, He defines creation, He defines completeness and the existence of all that is. When someone asks who I am, I am often left to compile a laundry list of items that I feel define my existence: I am a wife, I am a daughter, I am a sister, I am a writer, I am an athlete, I am an organizer, I am artistic, I am a professional, I am... When all labels and possessions are stripped away..who am I? (Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.")

We often associate the word simple with common, ordinary, naive, or plain; however, simple also means unaffected, unassuming, not complicated, sincere, and free of deceit or guile. God has placed in my heart a prodding towards returning to simplicity: this prodding has often come in the form of remolding and restructuring my way of thinking and living. He has stripped away the things I once thought defined me and while it left me feeling naked and vulnerable and left me with anxiety and fear in wanting so desperately to hide behind my own definitions once again; God has brought me to a place of freedom and inspiration in not feeling captive and chained to the things of this world. He has shown me that who I am is not dependent on the world around me or on my own abilities. There is peace that washes over me when I give over control and when I allow God to bring me back to the core of my existence, when I allow him to define me, and when I follow His leading and not my own. This of course takes work, it is a daily process of returning to simplicity, it is an inner battle to give over control and some days I am stronger than others but I am more aware now of when this internal battle is taking place. When my desperate need for control rises within me I can realize that something other than God has taken my attention and that I have missed the mark in giving God praise and have fallen once again to my own selfish need for existence.

I watched a movie that had a quote in it that I felt inspired by, in the movie an angel and a man, who was living after his own selfishness, were having a conversation about purpose. The angel tells the man, "It's simple...God is Love so we are to Love, God sacrificed everything so we must sacrifice everything." The man looked at the angel and said, "That's not simple." and the angel replied with, "Sure its simple, its just hard." Tearing down our walls of pride, sacrificing our own praise for the praise of God is simple in nature but hard in application.

True praise and devotion come in giving gifts to God that mean something to us. If what we must sacrifice is not hard or difficult then it must not mean much to us in the first place and is only an empty gift at the feet of a king. Our worship and our praise should cost us everything so that in giving him our all, He can be our everything.

From The Inside Out- Hillsong United

A thousand times I've failed Still your mercy remains And should I stuble again Still I'm caught in your grace Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame My heart and my soul, I give You control Consume me from the inside out Lord Let Jutice and praise, become my embrace To Love You from the inside out Your will above all else, my purpose remains The art of losing myself in bringing you praise