In the past as I have blogged about the trip, I have written primarily about feeling like Moses at the Burning Bush - not at all qualified for the task at hand and scared out of my mind to go stand before Pharaoh. But this year is different. This year, I am ready to strap on my armor and go head first into battle, the Lord leading the charge and me following Him. This year, I'm feeling much more at peace about everything. I know our team will come together; I know our budgets will be met; I know that traveling with a fifteen-foot long pole vault case will be no problem; I know that the Lord has this thing under control. Which is a much better place to be in, compared to the posture of a terrified Moses. Praise God for how He has continued to mold me, shape me, and bring me one step closer to the finished version of me that He has planned.
This year, the verse that the Lord has given me is really beautiful. It's Scripture, so of course it is beautiful, but the beauty is deeper and more personal because I know that this is a promise of things to come. The verse that the Lord has given me is:
Two things stand out at me. The first is "stand". I am by no means a Biblical scholar (as proven to me each week as I ask the Lord to write the lesson for our weekly Northwood AIA meeting), but I do know a thing or two about standing. I do a lot of standing. If it's a baseball double header, I stand in the dugout for eight hours on solid concrete. Standing hurts. Standing is active. Looking at it through a sports medicine lens, standing demands prolonged periods of active muscle work and stabilization. Hips are fully extended, your butt is "on", knees are extended (with a soft bend) and slightly externally rotated, shoulders are depressed and externally rotated, scapulae (shoulder blades, for those of y'all that don't have an anatomy background) are retracted and depressed, the neck is in a proper neutral position, and the abdomen is drawn up and in. Muscles are ready to move, to be active, and to be used. It is in this position that the Lord has called me, has called us, to be. I am not to be sitting, I am not to be reclining, and I sure as heck am not to be sleeping. I am to be ready. While I may not be actively be doing anything, I am actively ready for something. The Lord has already said that He will be doing great things. I am to stand.
The second thing that stands out is the word "still". I really appreciate the fact that the author included this word here. It may seem redundant to include, as standing usually means don't move, but how many of us truly practice that? How many of us, when we are standing, fidget or sway? Do you shuffle your feet, look for something to lean on? How quickly after you start standing still do you pull out your phone? Is being consumed by social media or online phone games really being still? I would argue that stillness requires a certain kind of concentration or awareness. Stillness requires a level of trust to just be.
That is what I see the Lord telling me to do - be ready, to be still, and above all else, to trust Him. He has promised great things. He wants me to see these great things. If the sanctification process currently happening in my life right now is a sign of things to come, then the Lord is going to be showing off in ways that I couldn't even dream of.
Lord, please help me stand still and see the great thing that You will do before my eyes.
This year, the verse that the Lord has given me is really beautiful. It's Scripture, so of course it is beautiful, but the beauty is deeper and more personal because I know that this is a promise of things to come. The verse that the Lord has given me is:
Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. - 1 Samuel 12:16
Two things stand out at me. The first is "stand". I am by no means a Biblical scholar (as proven to me each week as I ask the Lord to write the lesson for our weekly Northwood AIA meeting), but I do know a thing or two about standing. I do a lot of standing. If it's a baseball double header, I stand in the dugout for eight hours on solid concrete. Standing hurts. Standing is active. Looking at it through a sports medicine lens, standing demands prolonged periods of active muscle work and stabilization. Hips are fully extended, your butt is "on", knees are extended (with a soft bend) and slightly externally rotated, shoulders are depressed and externally rotated, scapulae (shoulder blades, for those of y'all that don't have an anatomy background) are retracted and depressed, the neck is in a proper neutral position, and the abdomen is drawn up and in. Muscles are ready to move, to be active, and to be used. It is in this position that the Lord has called me, has called us, to be. I am not to be sitting, I am not to be reclining, and I sure as heck am not to be sleeping. I am to be ready. While I may not be actively be doing anything, I am actively ready for something. The Lord has already said that He will be doing great things. I am to stand.
The second thing that stands out is the word "still". I really appreciate the fact that the author included this word here. It may seem redundant to include, as standing usually means don't move, but how many of us truly practice that? How many of us, when we are standing, fidget or sway? Do you shuffle your feet, look for something to lean on? How quickly after you start standing still do you pull out your phone? Is being consumed by social media or online phone games really being still? I would argue that stillness requires a certain kind of concentration or awareness. Stillness requires a level of trust to just be.
That is what I see the Lord telling me to do - be ready, to be still, and above all else, to trust Him. He has promised great things. He wants me to see these great things. If the sanctification process currently happening in my life right now is a sign of things to come, then the Lord is going to be showing off in ways that I couldn't even dream of.
Lord, please help me stand still and see the great thing that You will do before my eyes.
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