What’s Next, Abba?

I came to my chair to pray this morning, not sure how to receive from Him. Have you been to that place where you don’t want to go anywhere that might require what you don’t have? Makes me want run and hide.

The sad thing is I often treat God with a fear that He only greets me with a reminder that I’m not enough and with assignments I can only hope to fulfill.

Weird, I know. Coming to the Savior with my own salvation in short supply.

One thing I’ve learned this year. Writers are healed as they write. So that’s good news. I can pick up my pen and let the ink flow. Amazing how the Creator accepts my invitation as I ask a simple question.

What’s next, Abba?

I hope His answer comforts you, too, wherever you are and however you need Him today.

Abba’s response:

Do you believe I want to refresh you? That I know you’re tired and need to be filled instead of give? There’s a reason you come to Me with that fear. It has a name and today I’m breaking its hold on you. It is shame. Accept My war against it. Know that I’m never a part of its demonic agenda.

Instead of believing that I hand out shame when you need refreshing, know that My heart is a Savior’s heart. I am mercy. Not the kind some consider weak and just a nice idea. My mercy flows like a mighty river, strong and cleansing. It penetrates a concrete fortress of lies and embraces the heart’s faintest cry.

For so long you believed life had to be ordered, in careful perimeters. Not so. Look at the ocean you love. It laps over the shallows with gentle waves one morning, inviting a swim. It pounds sandy shores the next, reshaping and transforming them with its power.

So welcome to Me, beloved. Welcome to the wild side! You’re connected to My heart in ways you don’t understand yet. Yes, I hear you talking like you know it all when you’re insecure. I see you present a good show when you’re afraid.

Remember the ocean. Are you able to master it? Able to swim and get where you think you need to go? No? Okay, then, you can let that veil fall. It is a veil of shame. It isn’t My garment.

My garment fits you with perfection. Its lovely in My eyes. You didn’t have any hand in creating it. It’s all Me. I formed you in your mama’s womb, knowing how I would clothe your nakedness with exquisite beauty.

But shame, a subterfuge, blinded your eyes. Shame worked hand in hand with poverty. Trying was never enough. You were never enough. That lie required a hiding place and shame was happy to provide it.

So come into the Light, out of the shadows. Let Me robe you. You won’t need pretense or fragile efforts to cover your fears. You were meant to live in Me. Always. I’ll fill the gaping wounds with My oil. The oil of healing for you and for others.

I love you, dear one. Go into your day knowing that My hands have crafted a robe of glory just for you. Receive its reality and let its beauty shape your expectations.

Shalom,

Laurel Thomas