The cry of my heart has long been, “Lord, I want more of You!”
In this cry, is the full understanding that more of Him = less of me. This both costs everything and hurts more than can be told, as the Lord takes me through my ordinary life as He pleases. At times, to my shame, I find myself holding on with my fingers so tight as to make my fingernails white with the pressure, only to find He gently pries them open to let go of yet another thing that He needs me to. I can never anticipate ‘what’, ‘when’ but only know with utter certainty, that they will indeed take place, in His time, all for His glory, and my good (Romans 8:28)
I am to be transparent before Him. Telling Him all, hiding nothing. I have to be constantly prepared to face His ‘mirror’ regardless of what I see in its reflection and allowing Him to deal with what ever it is that He chooses to show me. I have no wish to keep a long account with the Lord. The quicker I learn to fall on my knees before Him, the better.
I so want to encourage you as you read. Let the Lord unravel you and your life. Hold back nothing. Become as a little child in all your dealings with Him. Trust Him regardless of whatever is going on in your life.
I have had to face many difficulties and am able to look back and thank Him for each and every one. His hands are sure, like no other hands I know. His tenderness with us, if we will but turn to Him much quicker than we do, we will find Him waiting for us and catch us.
Be sure too, that He will require of you to repent of whatever it is that He is showing you that is amiss in your life and handing them over to Him. As He brings things, repent before Him. As Him to show you how to repent and as it tells us below in Hebrews 4, we can come boldly to the throne of Grace and we can find mercy there.
- 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Let Him unravel you. It can be brought about no other way.
Unravelled
I feel myself unravelling like a knitted garment
And know I am being undone
one stitch at a time
As You tug on the twine of my life and make me anew
It is slow, this breaking down
Slower than my sometimes impatient heart would like
Hardened, ugly corners, thoughts and motives
Are being battered into shape
By circumstances out of my control
And yet not out of Your control, not once
Not ever
After flailing for years in fear and doubt
My worth no longer comes from inside this now, ageing flesh
Or from others who deem me friend or foe
but comes from the security of simply knowing, You Sent Your Son,
And it is here only because of His finished work on the cross
And only in that revelation, I can truly say
I began living
Where once great insecurity reigned supreme
Another Greater has taken its frightened, lonely place
And given me a worth valued higher than ever imagined
Where torment once ruled with an iron fist
Clenched fast around my depraved and sinful heart
I am now covered over with His robe of righteousness,
my sin is remembered no more and my peace and joy are full
I want to breathe You,
live You,
move in You
and have my very being in You
More and more every day
Unravel me completely!
This garment wants no say in how it is made
I want to hold on to nothing of me
I want to hold on to You
only.
The Lord bless you
Steph
Hi Steph,
I love your website and decided to tell you so!!
I am Diane who comments on Mike Ratliff’s Posessing The Treasure. I wanted to tell you how much I love reading your comments and how much they help me.
I have a sis-in-law named Stephanie, but we call her Steph, and I am fondly reminded of her whenever I see your comments. God is doing a miracle of emotional healing in her life.
God bless you, Steph, and thank you for chiming in with your wisdom and experience. I need it as I have only been a true believer for about 4 years, although sadly had been a false one for many years.
May our Father show you His love for you in a special way today,
Diane
Diane, I am quite speechless! How you have lifted my heart today I cannot quite tell you.
The Lord is so kind to us all and I too have been so blessed by your sharing at Mike’s blog. I am in awe of how God brings His children together and the timing of everything is always so perfect, is it not?
You are most welcome here any time and please feel free to ‘chip in’ (as we say in South Africa) on anything that the Lord leads you to. You in turn will help others grow too.
I really look forward to getting to know you more and you are most welcome to e-mail me if you would like to.
(I am short on sisters right now!)
Bless you and thank you dear sister for your gentle, kind words. May the Lord be indeed glorified in them.
Your sister, Steph
I am glad the Lord lifted your heart. I felt the gentle stirring to lend a kind word to you. I believe it is my gift from Him to encourage people and I know from experience it is so desperately needed in the body. It is my joy to do it!
I can relate to your last comment at Mike’s about being a people pleaser….most of us are to a degree, although my husband has never been one. However my people pleasing sickness was quite severe, almost incapacitating and left me so dependent and afraid of others. It had been that way since the age of twelve.
But God did a miracle in my life when He saved me about 4 years ago (when I was not looking for salvation). I was looking for more idols (people) to worship…a whole small town in fact. It about killed me, or so I thought, this pruning and salvation that my God did for me. Rejoice with me…what a mighty sovereign God who said “enough” to me and my idolatry.
God bless you!
Diane
Hi Steph,
Thanks for this post, it has come at a time when the Lord has been unravelling some more of me. As you know this can be a difficult time as our flesh struggles against the spirit. What you have shared here has been an encouragement to me.
God bless,
Andy
I am so glad you have been encouraged, dear bro.
The Lord knows just what we need and when – His timing is always just perfect!
May He bless you and strengthen you as you go through this with Him.
Steph
Amen to all what Diane said; your are a great encouragement to me as well. I love that poem.
Bless you and thank you dear Heidi. God is good all the time!
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Thank you, Steph, for your wonderful post. I can agree with absolutely everything about it because the Lord put a strong desire for Himself inside me that cannot be ignored. I also learned to be transparent, to just tell Him what I feel (”Lord, I’m furious at this thing here”–”Lord,this hurts my feelings”) For a while I pretended I didn’t feel anything bad or wrong–after all, Christians were not to feel things like anger, we were not to display bitterness or whatever. When I learned to talk to Him immediately, He took a hold of me in a stronger way that, as you so beautifully expressed, is so much harder yet so much better. I love Him like no other. I’m blessed to have found this blog and to have read your post. Thank you and God Bless You.
That was very well written and I also would add my amen to it!
Thank you Desert Pastor’s wife for your visit, comment and encouragement!
Bless you
Steph
Hi Phil 4:8 for your visit and sharing so beautifully what the Lord has/is doing in your life! It so encouraged me.
It is a joy to be able to tell the Lord ” I am mad about….” etc. I too was taught not to speak like this. Now I know I can just throw myself at His feet and tell Him exactly what is going on inside, with the full assurance that He not only hears, but wants to hear it all – every last bit of it. It brings a relief that is beyond words. I can’t wait to see Him face to face one blessed day and to look into His beloved face…
Thank you and bless you
Steph
This post could have been written by me. I felt it to my very core. Every breath I take, is only because He allowed it. My VERY EARNEST plea is to be conformed to His image, and that I may KNOW Him more and more and more and more and more and more.
You said it so PERFECTLY. When I know Him more, the less there is of me.
Thank you for this post.
Hi Joy. I am glad that the Lord has used this to bless you and encourage you. He knows not only what we need, but when. Praise Him!!
Hi. Thanks for this. Before I read your article, I was relaxing on my couch a few weeks ago, thinking about what this all means, and I had a vision of yarn and string, much like the photo you’ve included in this post. The only difference was, there were equal parts red and blue in the yarn I saw.
Hi cl
Thanks for your visit and comment
What does the red and blue yarn of equal lengths say to you?
Bless you
Steph