Walk It Out - Creating White SpaceSample

 Joining God 

It was not long after John and I completed these exercises, recentering our lives, that Pastor Daniel approached me about helping start Hope Pregnancy Center. Yes, dedicating time to that pursuit added to my schedule, but I stepped forward in faith, confident this was work in the community God wanted to do—work He wanted to involve me in. But I was only able to follow His leading because I’d cut so many other things from my schedule and had identified my priorities. 

What am I missing out on by following Jesus’s purposes? Being the look-good-on-the-outside soccer mom, active homeschool mom, and you-can-count-on-me church volunteer. What have I discovered instead? Peace, joy, and purpose.

Jesus wants to accomplish things in this world, and He will not leave those things undone. Will we join Him in accomplishing His purposes? Few good things ever happen by accident. We must decide who we want to be, and who we want our children to be, and then create the habits that will help us grow into those types of people. 

I love The Message translation of the story of the two men who built their homes on different foundations:

These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. 

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. (Matt. 7:24–27)

I have no doubt that if John hadn’t stopped me and forced me to create some white space and consider our family priorities and foundation, at least my part of the foundation would have been built on sand. You can only be blown in so many different directions for so long without collapsing like a house of cards.

“Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace,” wrote Amy Carmichael. “If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is.”

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