Blue Wool

I have had the privilege twice now of praying for the mom's group my sister leads.  One sister is the host, she invited the other to come teach, and then I (and Amy) got invited to come help pray for people.  (Pray as in hear the voice of the Lord specifically for the people there)

We've been going after insignificance, and identifying how it holds all of us hostage. Insignificance has held women hostage for years and years...  It convinces women across the world and across the church that the roles God designed for us are somehow wrong/not as good or important as men's roles.  See, the genders have totally different roles, and that is a beautiful thing.  That is also a completely different blog post that I will not be writing tonight. :)

I just wanted to jot down and share with you all one of the things the Lord showed during our prayer time.  

So often we get caught up in trying to make ourselves perfect.  We think that Jesus is standing there, expecting a high standard of us and waiting for us to attain it.  We think we believe He helps us, but end up finding out that we really think He's a hard taskmaster demanding perfection.  I felt like one of the things the Lord spoke to tonight was that we believe that He is constantly expecting us to move forward, to be taking ground.  We see him as the director of the show of our lives, wondering how holy He can get us before that day we die.  But I think the truth is that sometimes, He just wants us to be.  

It was like a picture of the shepherd.  Imagine a shepherd telling one of his sheep: "Okay now, Fluffy.  I have been shearing your wool for a while, and I figure you will have watched me a lot and learned how to do it.  I did half of it yesterday -- how about today you show me how you can do it yourself.  We'll see at the end of the day how much you were able to do, and hey!  if you get inspired, you might even want to dye it blue, just to be productive."

What in the world?

That's not how shepherds are.  I think of Jesus, the Great and Good Shepherd to be One who will take a day with us and say something more like "Here Fluffy [Annie...Amy...Jeff...Tim...Suzanna], I found some great grass over here.  Today, I want you to stand here and really enjoy this grass.  I love it when you are well provided for, so this is the job I'm assigning you today:  enjoy your grass, courtesy of Me."  Then the sheep goes munching away, and has a good time knowing that he/she is absolutely adored by this shepherd who provides and cares.

Yes, the Lord has things for us to do.  Yes, He does works that are sometimes really intense in our hearts -- and they all turn out to be part of that LIFE abundant He said He came to give us. 

He loves you, Fluffy.  Enjoy the grass.