I’ve stepped away from the keyboard and taken some breaths, lying on a spiritual gurney.  It wasn’t a metal stretcher I crawled onto for a week.  I laid myself down on a more inviting, cushioned, grace-lined pallet of “non-productive” whitespace and did some soul-searching.

Standing on this first square of the year called Start, I don’t want to merely draw up esoteric annual resolutions, re-shuffling things to do or outer-level improvements.

No, I am looking for something short of a miracle.

I need.  I want.  A resuscitation.

resuscitation - the act of reviving a person and returning them to consciousness
    1. to bring or be brought back to life, consciousness, or strength.
    2. to give or assume new vitality; flourish again or cause to flourish again.
    3. to impart new health, new vigor, or spirit to.
    4. to make or become operative or active again.
    5. to bring or come back to mind; recall.

Do any of these words trigger soul stirrings in you?

They do for me.  Each line feels like a pump of blood rushing through my spiritual veins.  It’s the Spirit’s movement in my soul.

The Spirit’s Start

The Spirit can’t be seen, but the direction it takes is unmistakable.  God’s Spirit may begin it’s work from a darker place — like it hovered over the earth when it was formless and empty — but then, it goes on, to create light and newness.

We, too, have formless and empty places in us.  Darkness may seem to reside on the surfaces of our deep, but God has made a home in us. 

Allowing His Presence to resurrect new life into my makeup is my focus this year.

The very places we shrink from and minimize is where God waits for our invitation to begin His work.  They are the very grounds to be revived and revitalized.

It’s contrary to what we’re drawn to.  We think God mainly operates on a blank or clean slate.  How very opposite to how He works!

“I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” Isaiah 45:3

An Unspoken Heart

So, I’m going to start doing what’s anti-intuitive.  I like giving God “the best” of myself.  This year, I also want to give the parts I’ve been holding back.

It’s not easy, but I want a true new.

I’m giving Him the old.  I’m giving Him parts I’ve allowed to lie fallow, while other parts have been rendered worn or obsolete by time and circumstance. These are portions of my unspoken heart.

It’s not that I’ve flatlined.  It’s more like the opposite. I’ve tasted God’s goodness and taken a few breaths of freedom from old ways.

It’s gotten me considering — what are the possibilities of faith in my life — if I really trusted?

A True New

I’m not hoping for a list of dreams to come true or goals to achieve — although I know God can bless me with these in His time and in His way.

No.  What I want is to return to the true me in Christ — where I am unafraid, exuberant and hopeful.

There has been pause in my spirit. What will happen when I let God press play?

Faithful as the sun is to a flower’s bloom, He is resuscitating my soul — with a trickle of words.

In the coming days, I’ll be collecting mine and sharing them with you. May we each find His words in our days — no matter how many or how few.

Together this year, let us experience a soul resuscitation — and start a true new.

“O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known. ~ Habbakuk 3:2

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.” ~ Psalms 143:8

What words are making their way to your soul?

What areas may God be wanting to unpause and press play?

A thank you goes out to Maureen@WritingWithoutPaper for sharing the Isaiah 45:3 passage
in a comment she posted, right before I entered into my whitespace.