I have been weary. Weary from life in 2020. Weary from COVID-19. Weary from quarantine. Weary from \u201chomeschooling.\u201d Weary from no hugs. Weary from a \u201cnew normal.\u201d Weary from zooming. Weary from the social unrest and violence in the world. Weary from the inequities based on skin color. Weary from the disrespect shown to police officers. Wearing from trying to write a book. Weary from myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
God gave me a directive I have not been following.\u00a0\u00a0He gave me the time, the finances, the medical insurance, the incredibly talented writers group, and the beautiful story written on my life.\u00a0\u00a0What have I done with these blessings??\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve squandered them.\u00a0 Not completely. But any amount is too much. \u00a0I have let distractions, circumstances, and my personal weaknesses interfere with what God has called me to do.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God\u2019s response \u2026 crickets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have sat at my computer for days\/weeks\/months on end \u2026 with frozen fingers.\u00a0\u00a0And a mind that wanders from thought to thought.\u00a0\u00a0A mind that criticizes those thoughts before they even have a chance to get to the screen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But after the silence came the show.\u00a0\u00a0God went from leaving me in the writing process (well, actually, I left first), to showing up and showing out in my bible study.\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s perfect timing strikes again.\u00a0\u00a0I am knee-deep in frustration and weariness when it comes to writing.\u00a0\u00a0I have been thinking about my writer\u2019s block, even talking about it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I sit down for bible study. And the show begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yesterday I left off in my study in the middle of week six, day three’s homework.\u00a0\u00a0I left off when Priscilla Shirer was discussing the \u201cvisual stimuli\u201d that interferes with our ability to hear God.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today I made my list of distractions then I obediently dealt \u201cauthoritatively\u201d with them. I isolated myself from visual and auditory distractions, and I continued day three\u2019s readings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was asked to meditate (slowly read aloud putting my name in the verses) on Isaiah 50:4-5. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;
I have not been rebellious,
I have not turned away.\u201d Isaiah 50:4-5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I read these verses the words started jumping off the page and into my mind and heart. First one word then a sentence, then more. It was like these words were written for ME. Written for me to read on June 14, 2020. How is that possible? Isaiah was written thousands of years ago before Jesus Christ even walked the face of the earth. Yet, today, these words were written for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue\u201d to write the story he first wrote on my life (and is still writing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I \u201cknow the word that sustains the weary.\u201d God knows I am weary from the writing process, and I need his Word today and his words to write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe wakens me morning by morning.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He awoke me today to what He is calling me to do.\u00a0\u00a0He wakens me each morning when I obediently carve out time to write AND include Him in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.\u201d When my ears are open, He will instruct me with what to write. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Sovereign Lord has opened my ears.\u201d He has surely opened my ears today. He has opened my ears to what has not been consistent with my writing \u2013 obedience and opened ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.\u201d Well, after today I won\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was on fire to write. I wanted to close my bible study book, run upstairs to my computer, and let my fingers fly. But God\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
called me to read further.\u00a0\u00a0He called me to turn the page to week six, day four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A RETURN TO OBEDIENCE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, that\u2019s the title.\u00a0\u00a0Apparently, I need to return to obedience.\u00a0\u00a0I need to return to carving out designated time to write.\u00a0\u00a0But not only that.\u00a0\u00a0I need to be obedient in not trying to do it on my own.\u00a0\u00a0I need to hear the voice of God.\u00a0\u00a0Have I mentioned my Bible study title is Discerning the Voice of God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God called me to finish day four\u2019s work before I write.\u00a0\u00a0For one of the tasks, I had to look up three bible passages regarding disobedience and God\u2019s response.\u00a0\u00a0Amos 8:9-11 hit me hard.\u00a0\u00a0One of God\u2019s responses to disobedience was sending \u201ca famine of hearing the words of the LORD.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hear you God, loud and clear.\u00a0\u00a0Thank you for sending me a famine of words.\u00a0\u00a0Thank you for sending me the writer\u2019s block needed to turn to You.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Writer’s block may seem like a negative circumstance. But God can turn anything into good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When day four’s homework was done, I ran upstairs to my computer primed to work on the book. God had other plans. His ways are always better than mine. My fingers flew … and out came this blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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I have been weary. Weary from life in 2020. Weary from COVID-19. Weary from quarantine. Weary from \u201chomeschooling.\u201d Weary from no hugs. Weary from a \u201cnew normal.\u201d Weary from zooming. Weary from the social unrest and violence…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n