Hello, readers! It is so funny how the universe operates. I haven’t been feeling particularly inspired to write lately, but something was on my heart this morning that I really needed to put into words. When I logged in to my account, I had a message saying today was my blog’s anniversary! It made me smile. Anyways, let’s refocus on today’s topic: Giving Grace and Finding Discipline.
Grace. If you are a Christ-follower like me, this word likely has great meaning to you. Both giving and receiving grace are powerful moments, and currently, I need to both give and receive grace for myself. At the start of quarantine, I had this strong desire to use all of the extra time to grow in my relationship with God. I wanted to reach a spiritual peak or to at least find spiritual peace. However, it is now two months into quarantine, and I realize I haven’t been growing my faith. If anything, I’ve lost touch.
I haven’t been watching live streamed services, and at first, I blamed it on the content, that it wasn’t resonating with me. Then I hit a hard reality that it doesn’t matter whether the content resonates with me every week. What matters is that I continue to show up. I need to show up regardless of my spiritual highs or lows. I’ve had this nagging on my heart all through the past two months and this desire to know and love Jesus more and more. But like all things in life, desire is not enough. You can desire anything you want, but to actually reach it? To actually acquire whatever it is you’re desiring? You need discipline. And friends, discipline is challenging. It means prioritizing the things that will get you closer to your desire. It might mean sacrificing things that are getting in the way. For me, it means being extremely intentional with finding time and establishing a routine.
I am so thankful that God continues to put a little fire in my heart to know Him and find closeness to Him. But now it’s my turn to keep that fire burning. And you know what? I’m still extending myself grace. Not everyday will be perfect. Not every service will light my soul on fire. And that’s OKAY. I vow to keep showing up for Him, regardless of whether my spiritual meter is full or empty.
So if you’ve been feeling more distant from God, I challenge you to establish one concrete practice that you continue to show up for no matter what. It could be listening to ten minutes of worship a day. It could be finding a daily practice of reading scripture. It could even be committing to watching or listening to a service every Sunday. Give yourself some grace and find something that works for you. Personally, I’m devoting time each day to reading my bible. I didn’t set a specific time. Maybe it’s just 5 minutes one day, but it could be an hour the next. But every day, I want to show up by digging into the word. Right now I’m making my way through Luke, and I’ve found growth there.
The realities of the state of this world can make every day feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants. But establishing a spiritual routine has helped bring me a spirit of peace despite the events of our world.
-Megan LouAnn
meganlouann 