Step Up, Step In

The shifting of the seasons is upon us.

The smell of the earth is tangible.

We can taste it.

 We can breathe it in. 

With the seasons changing, it brings in a renewal--a need for refreshing. Spring brings the need to clean--to purge and bring refocus into our spaces. We search for the best methods of organization, cities have pick up day to collect the discarded items that didn't make the keep list. People refine their wardrobe, and we do all these things to maintain the materials, but we tend to lack the one part in our lives that needs the refocus--the spiritual.

Step Up

We step away from Easter, from the salvation and redemption. Our lent season draws close, the curtain folds in and we step back into the same patterns effortlessly. We forget the new patterns that we established in a time of observance before the Resurrection. We flex our bones in response of obedience, yet we forget sometimes how to sustain in a new pattern.

Material items can be replaced, but our souls cannot.

John 15:2 says it beautifully "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

We all need a good pruning, much like a garden. We need to get rid of what isn't working to make way of what will be. We step up to the challenge in preparation for the new fruit that he is ready to start for you.

Step in, getting quiet

It is important to have space throughout each day that is intentional to just seeking a one on one with God. It is part of the pruning and preparation process.

Being quiet can also help to create a new rhythm in being able to detach ourselves from the devices and vices of the world as well. Setting our phones out  of arms reach and being alone without the twitching need of a distraction can help allow the mind to unravel the impulse to stay noisy. Our tendencies are to stay busy, to stay at that sprinters pace in eager anticipation for the next leg of the journey. Yet, a gardener cannot rush to plant and expect fruitful crops, if they do not first do the dirty tedious work of preparing the soil.

The quiet is the preparing of the soul. It's the tedious process of stepping into the challenges we carry that often get muted by the busy. It is also a good method for deepening the relationship with God.

So for this upcoming week, we challenge you to take 15 minutes each day to get quiet with God. Whether that would be right away in the morning before that days activities, or perhaps in the night time before rest. Whatever the time, we encourage a moment to be technology free, to sit in the stillness and communicate.