Love, Tuesday... when you’re not loving much.

Why do I say that? Well, does anyone else feel in the dull-drums lately? It could be all the snow we’re having... or my age... but I’m really not loving winter anymore.  When I see pictures everywhere I look that Spring has sprung and I know Colorado has a month (or so) to go, it makes me miss the sun and green things. (it’s probably why I’m posting so many pictures lately of summer in Italy)

With the reality that spring is a ways away for us, there’s this subtle anxiety that has set in my chest, and I haven’t experienced this in my life on very many occasions.  It’s unsettling but it’s the honest truth.  These thoughts of wanting to be over winter and onto Spring have made me feel unsettled in a way. Which in turn, has made me realize how much feelings drive us women. They make us say things, question things and even put doubts in our mind. I don’t like that. When I say I’m not loving this, I’m really not! I’m usually the “half glass full” girl. So how do we get through the moments we just want to cry and curl up in a blanket?  When there’s no words to explain it or Ice cream tubs big enough to make it better.

These are the raw moments in life we shouldn’t gloss over or sugar coat.  I don’t think we should hide or suppress them either. 

As someone who always wants to encourage others to seek the Lord, if I’m only sharing the good parts of my life, who’s going to believe it? Life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. And how are they going to see grace lived out, if life always looks rosy?

It makes me think of David’s life. He showed all kinds of emotions! He made mistakes, he did incredible things and he acknowledged his feelings many times as he “lamented” (did I say that right?) to God. He cried out to God in the valleys of life. He also praised God in those valleys, but that’s for another day…

I think I need to learn more about lamenting, and maybe you need this too.

There are going to be deep valleys in life. As believers in Jesus Christ, and followers of God’s Word, we have a beautiful book to read that helps us understand all of this! But not only do we have God’s Word, we have HIM, living inside of us. Which brings me to Psalm 73. David is crying out to God, there’s so much he doesn’t understand in his world. He’s going through major trials and it seems life is unfair and it doesn’t make sense to him. And then in verses 16 &17 he says this:

But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.

His view from the “sanctuary” changed him. It changed his thoughts and thus his emotions. When he came into the “sanctuary” (presence of God), his point of view began to align with God’s point of view.

Most of the time when I/we let our emotions take control of us, we are thinking ABOUT ourselves. “The weather sucks, I don’t like it. I wish I were… “ You can add your own list here. It’s our vantage point on things. I understand these thoughts are definitely how we feel and maybe rightfully so. But do we let our emotions dictate or govern how we act or do we get into the “sanctuary” of God and discern life from God’s perspective? Should we have spiritual eyes to understand God’s ways? I think so.

Spiritual thinking is centered on God, and His ways, and it helps us to broaden our vision and not be governed by our emotions. I think it also reminds us of the calling God has placed on our lives.

There is purpose right where He has us… snow and all.

I’m not trying to sugar coat this, it’s not easy to change our mindset. I’m sure I’ll still have days where I want to be transported to warmer climates! I think just by talking this out with you all, I’m seeing that bringing our emotions before the Lord is good. Keeping them bottled up is only hurting us and our relationship with the Lord. Yes, I’ll probably still shed some tears until I see the first buds of Spring on the trees here, but I’m going to learn more about lamenting, and in turn I think that will grow my understanding of how God desires us to deal with our emotions.

I love what Desiring God says about laments:

“But lament is different than crying because lament is a form of prayer. It is more than just the expression of sorrow or the venting of emotion. Lament talks to God about pain. And it has a unique purpose: trust. It is a divinely-given invitation to pour out our fears, frustrations, and sorrows for the purpose of helping us to renew our confidence in God.”

How beautiful it is to have this “invitation” to come before God in this way!

I’ll leave you with this quote I saw yesterday from Billy Graham:

“Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys."

We love mountain tops, but life isn’t all highs. Spiritual fruit is grown when we put God in the center of our problems, (the low valleys) and look up to see life from His perspective. I for one am so happy to have a God that desires to be right there with us! What GRACE we have in the sanctuary of God!

I know this encouraged me to talk and write my feelings out today, so thank you if you stayed to the end. I would love to hear from you if you have any words of advise or comments on this.

Have a GREAT day,

Laura McCollough

P.S. I actually do love something… that dress I’m wearing! Fun little fact: I leave it in a suitcase the hotel stores for me in Bellagio! (they think it’s just art supplies, so don’t spill the beans, hahaha) I’ve worn it many years in a row, so you’ve probably seen me in it before, but it makes me happy and I can’t wait to wear it when I finally get back there!