Greater still.

As life progresses, as I mature, as seasons of life come and go, I continue to experience new levels of God’s grace.  And even when I know that I know that I know that God’s grace is bottomless, I remain surprised when I experience God’s grace in a greater, newer way. 


I foolishly operate as though God’s grace is finite: I believe this present struggle is far bigger than the last one; this pain greater than before; this obstacle loftier than the previous. And they are.


But so is God’s grace.


The bigger the struggle, the more the pain, the loftier the obstacle—the greater God’s grace.


And when I think I have reached the ceiling, when I believe I am surely experiencing the pinnacle of God’s grace—God’s undeserved goodness toward us—it goes on.  It consumes me.  It consumes whatever obstacle I am experiencing.


God's grace will always be bigger than the struggle we experience, the pain we feel, or the obstacle we face.


I get lost in it.  It is there that my experience of Christ is in its purest form—grace, grace, and more grace.  I am then exactly who the Lord called me to be when enveloped in this grace.


Yet God’s grace is always available—and available in its fullest form.  This is consistent with who God is: omnipresent and infinite.  Then whether I experience God in His fullness depends solely on me.    


And I look back time and time again and see how God accomplished His perfect plan in me.  A plan that is good because the Lord is good.  But I miss the fullness of His presence and grace in that season when I adopt the fallacy that His grace is limited. 


I must make clear that I am not claiming the obstacle you’re experiencing is good.  Do not be confused: it is God’s presence despite, grace within, and use of that obstacle that are good.


I am sorry for this struggle, this pain, this obstacle you are facing.  But I am overwhelmed by God’s grace that is greater still.  I implore you to cling to the truth of who God is.  I am certain that God’s grace in whatever season you are currently experiencing is fully available right now.  And I cannot help but believe the greater your communion with the Lord, the greater your awareness of His grace becomes.


Maybe you are like me.  Maybe your perception of God’s grace varies with the size of your obstacle.  Maybe you have a preconceived idea of what God’s grace looks like.  I pray the Lord sets you free from whatever boundary you are putting on His grace.  I’m learning there are none.


“Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.”  Psalm 116:7 (NIV).


“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV).


“The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.”  Psalm 116:5 (NIV).

Speaking of God's boundless grace, please feast your eyes on this turtle mocha made with bona fide premium chocolate. Hello, you.

Much love to you,

Paige

Dwell before rest.

There's not enough time in my day.  I wring every second out of every minute, maximizing every opportunity to schedule more. I become obsessed with time; with volume; with cutting corners to pretend I gained volume. Gradually, my calendar began stifling the Lord's movement in my life.


The activities that fill my schedule--they're good in themselves and easily justifiable.  In fact, most of them are celebrated and even deemed necessary.  Yet it's this benign perception of my busyness that poses the greatest threat.  


Slowly, my busyness created a numbness--that resulted in an inability to experience God's rest.  The more committed I was to my calendar the less committed I was to listening to the Lord throughout my day.  And this has happened before.


Point to a lack of rest in my life and there you will likely find a callousness to Christ.  Communion with God, how I spend my time, and my restlessness are all related. The busyness initiated the absence of rest because busyness trumped my communion with God.  Without the pursuit of God, I will never fully experience His rest: His abundance; His peace; His purpose. 

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Put another way: When I forgo dwelling in the shelter of the Most High, I forgo resting in the shadow of the Almighty. 

Maybe you can empathize.

Lately, it's been a check off my list.  Quiet time: check.  Prayer: check. Church: check. Check, check, check.  I go through the motions without margin that leaves room for the Holy Spirit's work in and through me.  For me, it's not merely about scheduling a daily devotional time. It's about leaving room in each day for unbridled movement of our Lord. Experiencing God's rest is the byproduct of a heart softened and attuned to our Lord--it far exceeds a daily devotional exercise, although scheduled communion is equally important because it often sets the tone for our day.

And it begins to make sense: when I identify that which impedes my engaging God, I  have identified that which impedes my rest in God.  Most of the time, I am the impediment: my schedule, my priorities, my heart.  

I am not suggesting that you cancel all activities.  For me personally, entering God's rest is an attitude of the heart issue. It is about deliberately making room for God's unrestrained work in my life.  It's about taking time to hear God and taking time to obediently respond to God's movement.  This starts with my prayer life but ultimately requires me to make space to hear God. 

I pray the Lord leads you to identify whatever is impeding your dwelling in in Him.  I pray you have the discipline to remove it.  

"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."  Psalm 91:1 (NIV). "

"There is only one thing worth being concerned about.  Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her."  Luke 10:42 (NLT).

"For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest." Hebrews 4:10-11 (NLT).

So this happened recently.  Try not to hate me for it.

Much love to you, 

Paige

To wait quietly.

It was only recently that I understood how much of my life has been spent waiting on God.  An inventory of those around me shows I am not alone in this.  And I suspect at some point--if not nearly every point--in your journey, you have similarly waited on God.

Nearly every person dear to me is waiting on God for something: for a door to open; for God to restore a broken loved one; for a relationship to mend; for physical or emotional health; for a spouse; for a baby; for a job; for a friend; for the return of a prodigal child; for a purpose; for a plan; for the turmoil to cease; for the darkness to flee; for the pain to subside.

Maybe you're like me.  Maybe you impatiently await whatever circumstances you've manufactured in your mind--often instead of waiting for God.  But if the Lord is truly good and so much of our life is spent waiting, surely the waiting can be good.  This can only be so in light of the Lord.

It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

When we wait for the Lord (and not a specific circumstance), it is in that quiet and in that waiting that we become enveloped in the Lord.  Suddenly, it becomes less about the waiting and more about God's overwhelming presence in the waiting.  It becomes less about the door we want to open and more about the hallway before the door; less about the turmoil and more about the peace despite the turmoil; less about the darkness and more about the joy amidst that darkness.

In this chapter of waiting, lean into this: Our Lord is good. What our Lord has for you is good. But far better than whatever circumstantial good you anticipate and perceive is God's presence and grace in the waiting.

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will for him.'  The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."  Lamentations 3:21-26 (NIV).

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him."  Psalm 34:8 (NIV).

"I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning."  Psalm 130:5-6 (NIV).

This beauty is the perfect balance between bitter + sweet: one medium mocha with a hint of lavender coming atcha.  She won't let you down.

 

Much love to you,

Paige

What is pleasing to Him.

I've been grasping for that which I'm afraid to lose.  I torment myself trying to protect a circumstance, relationship, opportunity, status, object, moment, season, or chapter.  I manipulate, control, and influence to preserve whatever I am attempting to maintain.  

 

And somewhere along the way, I became enamored with the method instead of the mission.

 

I suspect you can relate.

 

We are called to be Christ.  But we neglect this mission when we become fixated on the current method for exhibiting Christ. Let me explain.

 

That which we strain to preserve--that circumstance, relationship, opportunity, status, object, moment, season, or chapter--was provided by and for the Lord.  These are resources--and often blessings--provided as platforms for Christ.  They are not ours.  Yet I became so attached to the current platform for God's purpose, that I became inflexible in response to God's purpose.  And sometimes God's purpose means changing the platform.

 

When we become married to the current conduit for God's glory, we risk missing God's glory.

 

If this seems redundant, it is.  But I find myself in this place far too often. 

 

I pray the Lord prompts us to release the method and to take hold of the mission--to know and be Christ.  I pray we have the courage to bend with God's glory--even if that means changing circumstances. I pray the Lord works in us what is pleasing to Him.

"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.  The world and all of its people belong to him."  Psalm 24:1 (NLT).

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows."  James 1:17 (NIV).

"Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen."  Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV).

I've failed to update you on a very significant event in my life.

I said goodbye to the ox that carried me through law school and my first years of marriage:

 

And I said hello to rico suave--who also separately heats water, I might add (hubba hubba):

 

Needless to say, I've missed you dear friends.

Much love to you,

Paige