Come in.....

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

What does your invitation say? While I hope mine would say, "Come and sit, take your shoes off and lie down. Let me cook for you, drink with me. Find rest and if for only a small while my heart's desire would be that you would hand me the burdens that are weighing you down. Laugh with me, smile, cry, be sad, be happy, be whatever it is that you really and authentically are... let me hold you, embrace you, comfort you, challenge you. I want to know with every ounce of me exactly what it is that you are feeling. I want to celebrate your greatest joys and crawl until I can meet you in your darkest hour. I want you to come and be loved, to feel understood, to feel loved, to feel accepted. I long to know the depths of your beautiful soul." Unfortunately for me, my invitation honestly says something more like, "I am tired, weak and weary. Sorry there is no room for you because I am trying to find strength on my own apart from Christ and all of my resources are exhausted and I am spent. I do love you but I have no rest to offer. Do you have any left over maybe you could spare some for me." Some of my days are like when you are in the car and you arrive to your destination, but you cannot recall one thing about the drive. I lay my head down and night and think, "What happened today?" I lead a freshmen bible study within my sorority and every week we talk about a different attribute of the Lord's beauty and thus what makes us beautiful, defines our worth and our identity etc.... last night was about being Inviting, about Christ invitation that always says, "COME!" I was going, not to explain what I have so tactfully conquered but to confess what I feel so defeated in. Well, when I got to the Pi Phi house they weren't there. I was so confused. I finally found one and she said that someone had told them they weren't allowed in the chapter room and their earlier event had ended forty minutes ago and so they all just thought it was cancelled. Hmmm. Strange. I got to talk to some girls in the house and then started on my way back home. On the way home the Lord settled my heart. It wasn't an accident. He had something else planned for the two of us. I went to express my inadequacy and how I long for the Lord to write a new invitation on my soul and trade in mine, and all the while there he was subtly and passionately whispering, "Shhh.... child of mine, spend some time with me tonight. Accept MY INVITATION to come and rest." I went home put on a face mask, poured a glass of wine, ran a bubble bath, and lingered in the Lord's presence for a good hour and a half. When was the last time I had sat with him and just talked to him intentionally, really asked him what he was thinking? When was the Last time I lost my way with words trying to tell him how I feel about him? When was the last time that I had made one of these kinds of emotional deposits into our relationship. Unworthy of His love, Undeserving of that moment, but so grateful. My heart feels close to him today. That is just so like him to surprise me with His perfect love, in the most perfect way. I feel alive and in love.

Isaiah 55:1-3
“Come all who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good. And your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me THAT YOUR SOUL MAY LIVE.”