Seek to Dwell

"Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His presence continually!" Psalm 105:4

Dwell.

That's what He told me.  That's your word for the year, my child.  Dwell.

Learn not to be so busy.  Learn not to be performance-based.  Learn to lean like you never have before.
Learn that I love you no matter what.  Learn that My grace is not only sufficient; it is ALL-SUFFICIENT.

These are hard lessons.  I thought I had already learned them years ago.  But the mirror God has been holding up to my heart has revealed that there is still much to be learned.

So I seek to dwell.

Dwell in His presence.  Dwell when everything in me wants to leap forward to tasks and ideas.  Dwell when I am misunderstood. Dwell when my sinful flesh drowns out His Spirit and I need forgiveness once again.  Just dwell.

Because this is what He promised me in His Word:
"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.'"  Psalm 91:1-2

I resisted starting this blog.  I'm still not sure I want to do it.  But God kept nudging me, saying, "You are not the only one out there.  My other children are suffering, and they need to know they are not alone.  They need to know I care and want their spiritual and physical healing."

As I have gone on a quest to determine the source of my body's pain and inflammation, seeking solutions to heal my body, I have found a LOT of information out there.  Sorting through it all can make a person crazy.  But as always, my God is SO faithful, and He directed my steps to one person, who led me to another person, who led me to another, who shared with me a book, a doctor, a website, a blog.  A number of people have been used in the last few months to help me zero in on what is going on in my body and how to heal it. God sent His Spirit to guide them to speak to me and to send me on this journey.

So I write this in hopes it will help someone else.  I write this because I truly believe in it.  I believe it is the way God designed our bodies to eat, sleep, be nourished mentally, spiritually, and physically.  But most of the experts writing about this stuff (I said "most," not "all.") are not coming from a Christian perspective but rather an evolutionary belief-system.  I do not at all intend to get into a discussion or debate between creationism and evolution.  I simply want to come at these healthy ways of eating and living from a Christian perspective.

Let me be incredibly frank.  The first "phase" of my healing came in the form of a Biblical counselor (not a Christian counselor, but a Biblical counselor--very different, and the only kind I would ever recommend).  My heavenly Father knew I needed to address my spiritual and emotional health long before attempting to do anything about my unhealthy body.  I had just come through the most difficult year of my entire life, and I was emotionally beat up.  I'm sure a good portion of my body flaring up with inflammation had to do with the effects of so many intense stress factors for more than a year.

I cannot recommend Biblical counseling enough.  The precious woman who worked with me took my hand gently, yet firmly, and used God's Word to comfort, encourage, challenge, and correct me. I will be forever grateful to her and to God for leading me to her.  If you live in the Houston area and you are seeking Biblical counseling, check out Bethel Biblical Counseling.

Praying that each of you are led by God's Spirit to find the treasures He has for you in mind, body, soul, and spirit.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom."  Psalm 90:12