We’ve been here at our new home Hope Mountain for two weeks now. It is beautiful, and God daily reminds me of his goodness and kindness by being surrounded by His awe inspiring creation. During our stay here we have spent the majority of our time working on the property. One thing we have been tasked with is raking and clearing open spaces. Last Sunday there was a youth event here on campus and we needed to create wide open, safe, clear spaces for the activities the kids would be doing. But looking beyond the youth event these spaces also needed to be cleared so that in the future they can be used for other things. One space we cleared may one day be a garden producing fresh vegetables and another clearing the Lord has given the dream of building an orphanage there. It struck me as we were doing this prep work that what we were doing was necessary in order for these spaces to one day be useful, prosperous, and purposeful. Before anything can grow or be built, first, the decaying leaves, sticks, and trash must be removed. I think this is such a moving picture of how the Lord works in our hearts. That in order for Him to grow us and produce new fruit there is some clearing out that must be done. Clearing out of old ways of thinking, decaying habits, and inaccurate views of Him. Coming onto the race I thought that this would be a time of the Lord growing new things in me, planting new dreams and building my relationship with Him. I still whole heartedly believe this to be true, but in all honesty this first two and a half months has felt a lot more like tearing old things down than building new things, a lot more like uprooting old things than seeing the fruit of the new. And in this I am discovering a newfound appreciation for the whole process. The clearing out of our hearts is not always the most pleasant experience, as it can be hard and painful to let go of things that are not glorifying the Lord or are no longer serving us in our pursuit of Him, but I am beginning to see the importance of this step. I am thankful for the purposeful yet sometimes painful clearing out that the Lord is doing in my heart, for I know it is going to allow for greater growth and increased closeness with God. I want to grow in my ability to sit in the process, to not skip steps, and to trust that the clearing out that the Lord is doing now will ultimately make room for a season of fruitful planting and lasting building.
B 🤍
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We’ve been here at our new home Hope Mountain for two weeks now. It is beautiful, and God daily reminds me of his goodness and kindness by being surrounded by His awe inspiring creation. During our stay here we have spent the majority of our time working on the property. One thing we have been tasked with is raking and clearing open spaces. Last Sunday there was a youth event here on campus and we needed to create wide open, safe, clear spaces for the activities the kids would be doing. But looking beyond the youth event these spaces also needed to be cleared so that in the future they can be used for other things. One space we cleared may one day be a garden producing fresh vegetables and another clearing the Lord has given the dream of building an orphanage there. It struck me as we were doing this prep work that what we were doing was necessary in order for these spaces to one day be useful, prosperous, and purposeful. Before anything can grow or be built, first, the decaying leaves, sticks, and trash must be removed. I think this is such a moving picture of how the Lord works in our hearts. That in order for Him to grow us and produce new fruit there is some clearing out that must be done. Clearing out of old ways of thinking, decaying habits, and inaccurate views of Him. Coming onto the race I thought that this would be a time of the Lord growing new things in me, planting new dreams and building my relationship with Him. I still whole heartedly believe this to be true, but in all honesty this first two and a half months has felt a lot more like tearing old things down than building new things, a lot more like uprooting old things than seeing the fruit of the new. And in this I am discovering a newfound appreciation for the whole process. The clearing out of our hearts is not always the most pleasant experience, as it can be hard and painful to let go of things that are not glorifying the Lord or are no longer serving us in our pursuit of Him, but I am beginning to see the importance of this step. I am thankful for the purposeful yet sometimes painful clearing out that the Lord is doing in my heart, for I know it is going to allow for greater growth and increased closeness with God. I want to grow in my ability to sit in the process, to not skip steps, and to trust that the clearing out that the Lord is doing now will ultimately make room for a season of fruitful planting and lasting building.
