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A Moment to Breathe

When You Need to Step Away

by (in)courage  •   May 15, 2020  •   13 Comments  •  
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The one who lives under the protection of the Most High
dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:1 (CSB)

The other day I told my friend, “Life is too short to do something that drains your soul.” This bit of truth rolled off my tongue easily that day because, in that moment, I was deep in the midst of a social media break. A growing restlessness in my soul, coupled with the prompting of the Holy Spirit, whispered to my heart that I needed to pull way back from the unending chatter of the internet. After trying to refill my tank with what a thousand of my closest “friends” had to say, God stepped in and invited me into a secret space — a sacred space, alone. With Him.

“It’s like stepping into God’s office to dump out all of my emotional garbage and let Him help me sort it,” I told my friend. We laughed about the visual, but one of the struggles I often wrestle with is my own eagerness to share with others what God is doing in my heart, in those private moments. When I make this mistake, I stop focusing on God, and start looking around at others. I start listening to their stories, quickly forgetting that just hours before, God was working out some of the kinks in my own.

This time, however, I stepped fully and quietly into that secret place with Him and sat there in my mess and endured the month-long unwinding of a great many knots in my heart. Instead of anxiety about stepping away, I experienced relief. I came to God dirt-dry and found revival in His presence alone.

Surely there is a time for testimony. We are called to tell of His goodness and grace to all who will listen. But also we are called to the quiet, tucked-away place alone with Him, where the uncomfortable-but-necessary healing and growing can happen, away from the chatter and peering eyes of the waiting room. Alone with the Almighty, I tasted the sweetness of grace that could not — and cannot — be experienced anywhere else.

This message was written by Kris Camealy and appears in A Moment to Breathe: 365 Devotions That Meet You in Your Everyday Mess from the (in)courage community.

 

We are called to tell of His goodness and grace to all who will listen, but also we are called to the quiet, tucked-away place alone with Him. -@kriscamealy: Click To Tweet Leave a Comment
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