rise up

You know sometimes we can just feel so weighed down by the worries and anxieties of life and we find ourselves settling, even unintentionally, into a realm of shallowed perspective where disappointment and hopelessness take hold and keep us anchored in those cares.  But the Lord always calls us up to a higher plain, to a place above it all, where we actually fix our eyes not on all the things we see in the natural, but instead on the things we don’t see, which are the only things that will last eternally anyway.

You see, the short-lived pains of this life are creating for us an eternal glory that does not compare to anything we know here.  So we do not set our sights on the things we can see with our eyes. All of that is fleeting; it will eventually fade away. Instead, we focus on the things we cannot see, which live on and on.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (The Voice)

Listen, this life is going to bring us times of trouble, and we will go through seasons of waiting and even hardship; but Jesus has already overcome these things and he always gives us a way of escape, which is in and through him.  I pray that as you read this, the Lord will reveal to you his higher ways and thoughts which are always accessible to us, and that you too will rise up and leave the earthly cares behind.

P.S. And yes, it’s been a while since I’ve made an official post here, though I certainly haven’t stopped writing, journaling or expressing myself.  Hope this new post meets you where you are and brings encouragement and hope to your soul, the way only Jesus can.

RISE UP

I am so tired
of resting underneath
the weight of circumstance
the cares and troubles of life
living beneath my means
which means the means that
were my intended lot and portion
where the lines are drawn in pleasant places
the place of true inheritance

why does this and that always seem to trouble the heart so
contending with anguish
wrestling with angst
always trying to strive its way out of that place
the divided heart so easily falls prey to pressures
but i know better
so why oh why do i allow these burdens
to entangle me so
to stay bound by heaviness
imprisoned by every mishap
and to buckle under the bait that’s always dangling in front of me to take
ugh, always wading through troubled waters
now this is a mediocre existence

i wasn’t made for this
oh i know i was made for so much more
to be the head, not the tail
to be above, and not beneath
to soar on the heights and not wallow in the depths
“hey down there…..come, make your bed up here,” he says
ahhhh yes, you’re right
it is time for this heart to rise
to cast off the constraints of mere survival

you know I didn’t actually mean to settle here
again
but somehow i did
me and all these earthly cares
nope, enough
i will no longer settle for this life
i mean this isn’t truly living anyway
you know, we talk a lot about the truth, you and me
the mind to the heart
but is it just all talk
i mean come on self, where is the action
this truth was intended to set you free

there’s a wide open space waiting for you
so it’s time
rise up
get up from this place
take up your bed
once and for all
and ascend the heights

Scripture references: 
Mark 4:19, Psalm 16:6, James 1:7-8, Deuteronomy 28:13, Isaiah 40:31, Ephesians 2:6, John 8:32, Psalm 18:19, John 5:5-9, Psalm 18:33