With all this talk about the world ending on the 21st, it's gotten me thinking. Regardless of whether "they" are right, we were told by Jesus to be ready, because we never know when He will come.
But how can we be "ready"? I sat there in the dusk tonight asking myself this question. The soft blanket of night fell across the land as I looked out on the dimming landscape and realized just how temporary all this was.
Whenever I start thinking like that I get this catch in my chest. I have a moment of panic, because I don't like the unknown. And I don't know everything about Heaven. So that makes it an unknown. And I started to get afraid.
But then, then I made myself take a deep breath. It's true, I can't know all about Heaven. But I can get to know Jesus more and more. And that is who I am going to be with... and that's when my second wave of uneasiness started. how do I know that is the One I am going to be with... what if...?
And the "what if's" poured forth. There are so many opinions about what you must do to be saved or stay saved. I started to get breathless all over again, when the Lord softly calmed my heart.
He whispered, in that way He does whisper...
Rest in Me.
Seek to know Me.
Talk with Me. Listen to Me. Obey Me.
And then I began to realize...
I need to make sure my heart is right before Him, that I am doing what He has asked and have "come clean" and confessed to Him my wrongs, my wrong attitudes, actions, motives... communicate with Him. Listen to Him, not everyone else and their speculations. Seek to know Him. Trust Him. Let Him be my friend that I tell all to, that nothing comes between us.
I need to stop thinking about what other people have said or will think.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27
I like that. I like thinking of myself as His sheep. His sheep that He loves so very much. Sheep don't try to figure everything out. They graze softly by their master. Content. Trusting. They look to Him for direction. He leads them to green pastures, maybe the way there is hard, but the end is green pastures. I must trust Him.
So I end this wondering night, this night where I started to panic because, how could I possibly know how to be ready, to do it all right, to sort out all the different things people are saying. I end this night with my eyes on Him, leaving all those questions behind, because I seek to know Him and serve Him, obey Him, and hear Him. What He is asking me to do, not what He has asked others to do. To abide with Him. Be close to Him. Be his little sheep. Yield to Him. Trust Him. And that is all. Simple. Hard, but simple. And, oh, so freeing.
Thank You Lord for being my everlasting Shepherd.
"Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." Psalm 57:1
~ Ashley
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