I’ve been offered a handful of new opportunities in the past month or so. For a freelance author/speaker that’s great news, but I’ve also learned not to simply say “yes” to everything just because it seems good. The question is whether it’s of God. And for one of those invitations I really wasn’t sure, questioning, for example, whether it dovetailed with the gifts God has graced me with. So I sat with the invitation for almost a week. Praying. Listening. Waiting…
It was only when explaining my quandary to my husband that I found myself quoting Isaiah 54:2, a verse that hadn’t crossed my mind until that moment. Hearing myself say it stopped me in my tracks as “do not hold back” boomed through my soul. I had my answer without my husband having to say a word – he’s a good listener 🙂
I wasn’t planning on telling you all that, but when I later drafted a completely different verse and reflection for our October place of dwelling, it niggled me – it just didn’t sit right. So I began again, prompted to share “do not hold back” instead. And so, I leave it in God’s hands should He wish to speak it into your own situations too…
– Perhaps God has been gently nudging you to draw close to Him again – do not hold back but run to Him, embrace Him, sit with Him for as long and as often as you are able.
– Perhaps you feel convicted of an unhelpful habit: do not hold back from throwing off whatever holds you back from experiencing the fuller life Jesus promises as you pursue His life-giving ways.
– Perhaps, like me, this verse resonates with an opportunity you’ve been deliberating – is this a coincidence or God’s timely do not hold back?
– Or perhaps you sense a need to let go, to release, to step down or say “no”, but feel torn for some reason: hear God’s loving assurance to not hold back from taking that step so He may lead you unhindered into His ongoing purposes.
– How else might God be speaking as your dwell with His Word this month?