Remember this when you feel stalled by Joy Lenton

Are you feeling stalled, prevented from progressing as you want to? Me too.

We're full of hope and expectation, pressing ahead with our projects, when it feels like we hit a brick wall.

Something slams into our days, rendering us helpless, too tired to carry on as before.

We become the sparrow fallen to ground, empty jar needing to be filled, lost coin waiting to be found.

We thought it was almost reaping time but now we sit in bleak and barren furrows.

Circumstances make us crumble into the dust and ashes we came from.

Being laid low, set aside for a while, feels painful, humbling, frustrating. Everything within us longs to move on.

I've become accustomed to the fluctuating symptoms of M.E, the way it can drain and deplete so inconveniently. 

And the hardest thing to have to lay aside is connection, being a part of life when you're too weary to participate. 

That, and the work in progress, of course. Who wants to stop when words and ideas are flowing? Not me.

At times like this we can forget Whose hands our life and times are in.

So I've sat still for a season, alternately resisted and relaxed into rest. Most of all, I've sought after God because He is the Peace I crave, and He makes me whole again. 

As I browsed through my prayer journal to remind myself how God has strengthened me in the past, I found some words to share which I hope will encourage you too.

'Prayer Whisper:Your story matters'

“You have a message to share. You have a story to tell. Surrender the outcome to Me. 

All I ask of you is that you are willing to write as I guide, speak as I direct, and listen continually for My promptings.

Sometimes words will flow and be written down; other times you wait in faith and trust, with expectancy, and I will provide as you take the first step.

Surrender your tools to Me. Your pen, paper, keyboard, phone or voice. In My hands they will accomplish far more than you can imagine.

If words stall and you feel blocked from speaking, do not allow fear to paralyse you further. Continue to believe that I will provide.

There will be seasons of bounty and seasons of fallow. Believe I am in both. 

Your heart may need surgery.

Your attitude and thoughts may need correction. It is necessary to purify and make you fit for purpose.

Then you will come forth as gold and shine with My radiance and glory. I will renew and restore what is broken and lost.

You still see holes. I see more areas where My grace can filter through.

Trust the work I am doing in you. Broken, weak and wounded people surrendered to Me are the most beautiful vessels to reflect My Light to others”

May I pray for you?

Eternal Father,
I pray for those who may be in a season of being stalled, a period of challenge and change, requiring direction from you.

Be the peace they need, the calm in every storm, the shelter and safe place we can all come to when life overwhelms us.

Ease the discouragement and frustration of being set aside for a while, and bring forth the fruit of their labours at just the right time for it to impact the lives of others.

Thank you that you are the Author of life, Source of inspiration and giver of all good gifts. Help us to use them wisely to your praise and glory.
Amen


Joy is a grateful grace dweller who finds community among the weak and the broken, the edge-dwellers and truth-tellers.

She enjoys having fellowship with poets, writers, mystics and contemplatives as she seeks after God's heart.

You can find her raking for beauty out of ashes at poetryjoy.com and wordsofjoy.me where she writes to encourage others on their journey of life and faith.

She would love to connect with you on her blogs, or on Twitter, Facebook or Google +

Comments

  1. Joy this is evocative and inspirational. Yes, sometimes we can feel like we are trudgin through mud, but knowing God is with is can help us carry on, thank you for the reminder

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    1. Mud trudging is exactly how being halted makes us feel, and it's also an apt way to describe the painful physical slowing down which having M.E (and other illness) enforces upon us. Thankfully, we have a helping Hand reaching down to pull us out of the mud and mire and set our feet on a spacious place again. Thanks, Wendy.

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  2. Thank you, Joy, for this, for your faith in Christ, your honesty, your example.

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    1. Thank you, Caroline. I'm truly grateful if you see such things in me because my heart's desire is to encourage and support others going through tough times. Bless you.

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  3. I was moved by your prayer. Thanks for praying it.

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    1. You're very welcome, Fran. Thanks for reading it and letting me know it was beneficial to you. I appreciate your feedback.

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  4. What a gem of a post, shining bright on a cloudy, wet day. You are a born encourager. Thank you Joy :) x

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    1. Thank you, Deborah! Your posts never fail to lift and encourage me too. :) x

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  5. This is so comforting and inspiring, Joy. It encouraged me to think of God being with us also in the dry season. I really love this hope-filled truth - "Broken, weak and wounded people surrendered to Me are the most beautiful vessels to reflect My Light to others." Thank you! Blessings and Hugs!

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    1. Trudy, I also love those words the Lord shared with me. They bring such comfort to all who feel weak, broken or set aside. God is with us and for us all the time, but we often forget or turn away from Him when we're enduring painful things. It's such an encouragement to know that whether we can see the results with our own eyes or not, He is continually mending, restoring and making us new, and still shining though us in our brokenness. Thanks for following me over here! Blessings and hugs to you too. :) x

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    1. Hi Aritha! I'm glad this post has blessed you, my friend. :) x

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  7. Beautiful. So encouraging. And a timely reminder that God is at the centre of our lives, in all its seasons.

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  8. Beautiful. So encouraging. And a timely reminder that God is at the centre of our lives, in all its seasons.

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    1. Thank you, Lynda. How we need to remember that "God is at the centre of our lives, in all seasons." Amen! :) x

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  9. Just beautiful, Joy....so needed to read it today (as happens many times, your words arrived to me just when I needed to hear them). Thank you.

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    1. Hi Helen. It's lovely to see you here! Thanks for reading and leaving a lovely comment. I'm truly grateful to be given words which you needed to receive. Have a blessed weekend, my friend. :) x

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  10. This is so beautiful and such needed words for a stalled season of life. Thank you for the prayer at the end and the reminder that our story in the Hands of God will always lead us where we need to go. I have been blessed by your part in the Weekend Whispers community and I know I will see you around the blogging world.

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    1. "Our story in the Hands of God will always lead us where we need to go". Absolutely, Mary! I've been greatly blessed to get to know you through the Weekend Whispers community and I'm glad our lives have touched via the blogosphere. Maybe we could stay in touch by subscribing to one another's blogs? Just a thought.. Blessings to you as you lean into the One who is always whispering close to our hearts. :)

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  11. Thank YOU for following me over here, Jamie, and stopping to leave a sweet comment! Blessings :) x

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