There is something in me
that simply won’t take
another step.
It’s like a shaggy black dog
on a hot day in my soul,
and it just. won’t. move.
When I feel my deep heart panting
for a glass of water, some shade,
and someone to carry me home –
I have learned it’s best
to listen.
I don’t want to let anyone down,
but I also don’t want to kick this dog into action.
I believe a true spark
must come from within,
and it’s my job
to gently fan the flames –
not burn the whole forest down.
My soul is in need of some mercy right now,
and I have to trust
that my Father will come
to carry me home.
You would be more kind
if you believed
He would do the same for you.
Matthew 11:25-30
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
John 4:14
“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
One day, while walking my giant coarsely black-furred labradoodle on a hot day, he laid down and refused to take another step. Even after my neighbors gave him water, and he rested in the shade, and I tried tugging, encouraging, and cajoling him gently – he simply wouldn’t take another step. My husband, his loving father, wound up having to come to pick him up and carry him into the car to drive him home.
I think it’s a good metaphor for our need to rest in the Spirit.
Life gets so busy and overwhelming. In our society probably rooted back into our willingness to enslave other humans for free labor, the norm is pressure. Pressure to perform, pressure to go go go, succeed, and do it all – basically pressure to never stop working – no matter the cost to our own well-being, even spiritually. This pressure doesn’t align with the deep call of our hearts and souls, and it certainly does not create space to believe in the loving support of our Heavenly Father, which is available in every moment.
Jesus doesn’t pressure us to perform. As King David so eloquently expressed, ” He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Jesus came to love us into life. To fill our gas tank, and to light the fire from within with LOVE to light the way for others out of that same love, which does challenge us sometimes but isn’t the same thing as soul-less pressure, which can be put on us by people, who have bought into a worldly way of thinking.
Sometimes, our soul needs to take bold action like my dog did, and just STOP, refuse to be pressured into motion by the standards of society, listen to it’s deepest callings, and trust that our Father will take care of us and everyone else we feel we are letting people down by listening to this deep call of our soul.
Is there a stuck part of yourself? Do you need to stop and wait for new direction, energy and nourishment for the Lord? If so, I encourage you to do so! Truly, we can count on His mercy to “restoreth our souls.” He is with us in every moment, hoping for the sacred opportunity to do his work in us.
Lord, help us to more fully trust in your merciful heart and infinite wellspring of love, which is available to nourish, heal and protect us always. Give us the courage to hear you, when you speak to us through the deepest cries of our hearts and souls. Strengthen us to break away from society’s standards in order to live fully the abundant life you have promised to those, who believe. Bless us with the gift of faith and the ability to share that gift with others. In Jesus name, we pray.
written by Nicky Gant for http://www.uniteinprayer.org 6/7/2021