Leaning In A Little Closer
“Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” James 1:3 NIV
I don’t know about you, but when my faith is being tested, “YAY, I’m building perseverance!” is not usually my first thought.
Usually, it’s more like, “Lord, why?”
Reading James reminds us that the testing of our faith is doing something within us. Even when we cannot see it, understand it, or appreciate it yet, God is building perseverance.
When we lean into God with our time, hunger, and focused attention, our hearts become a landing strip for His presence. We stop magnifying our circumstances and begin magnifying God above them. That requires humility, a willingness to admit that we don’t have all the answers and that maybe, just maybe, God sees something we don’t.
I love what Pastor Aaron said Sunday, our one fill-in… “To be blessed is to be seen, known, and valued by God.”
Hagar experienced this when she found herself alone in the desert, “The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:7–8, 13 NIV
God found Hagar in the middle of her mess. He called her by name, listened to her, and reminded her that she had not been forgotten.
He does the same for us. He sees the grief we talk about, the grief we try to ignore, and even the grief we have shoved into a little emotional drawer labeled, “I’ll deal with that later.”
Recently, I took a page in my journal and drew a horizontal line across the middle. At the top, I wrote Grief, and at the bottom, I wrote Gratitude.
Grief isn’t limited to losing someone we love. We can grieve a relationship, a missed opportunity, an unanswered prayer, an expectation that was never met, or a season of life that ended before we were ready. I wrote down everything I was grieving—in every sense of the word.
Then I did the same with gratitude.
Afterward, I prayed Psalm 27:13–14: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
Right now, God has me sitting with the phrase “still small voice.”
If we are honest, most of us don’t really want a still small voice. We want God to bellow down from heaven. We want Him to holler—lovingly, of course—and give us clear, detailed instructions answering every question we have.
“Turn left here. Wait three days. Say this. Don’t text that. And here is exactly how everything will work out.”
Wouldn’t that be perfectly convenient?
But I’m learning to listen for His still small voice—not because God is whispering to make things difficult, but because He wants me to lean in. He wants me to come closer.
This week, I encourage you to make your own Grief and Gratitude page. Be honest about what you are grieving, then remind yourself of what you are grateful for. Pray Psalm 27:13–14, sit quietly with the God who sees you, and listen.
When you lay your grief and gratitude before God and lean in a little closer, what might His still small voice be trying to help you hear?
I don’t know about you, but when my faith is being tested, “YAY, I’m building perseverance!” is not usually my first thought.
Usually, it’s more like, “Lord, why?”
Reading James reminds us that the testing of our faith is doing something within us. Even when we cannot see it, understand it, or appreciate it yet, God is building perseverance.
When we lean into God with our time, hunger, and focused attention, our hearts become a landing strip for His presence. We stop magnifying our circumstances and begin magnifying God above them. That requires humility, a willingness to admit that we don’t have all the answers and that maybe, just maybe, God sees something we don’t.
I love what Pastor Aaron said Sunday, our one fill-in… “To be blessed is to be seen, known, and valued by God.”
Hagar experienced this when she found herself alone in the desert, “The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:7–8, 13 NIV
God found Hagar in the middle of her mess. He called her by name, listened to her, and reminded her that she had not been forgotten.
He does the same for us. He sees the grief we talk about, the grief we try to ignore, and even the grief we have shoved into a little emotional drawer labeled, “I’ll deal with that later.”
Recently, I took a page in my journal and drew a horizontal line across the middle. At the top, I wrote Grief, and at the bottom, I wrote Gratitude.
Grief isn’t limited to losing someone we love. We can grieve a relationship, a missed opportunity, an unanswered prayer, an expectation that was never met, or a season of life that ended before we were ready. I wrote down everything I was grieving—in every sense of the word.
Then I did the same with gratitude.
Afterward, I prayed Psalm 27:13–14: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
Right now, God has me sitting with the phrase “still small voice.”
If we are honest, most of us don’t really want a still small voice. We want God to bellow down from heaven. We want Him to holler—lovingly, of course—and give us clear, detailed instructions answering every question we have.
“Turn left here. Wait three days. Say this. Don’t text that. And here is exactly how everything will work out.”
Wouldn’t that be perfectly convenient?
But I’m learning to listen for His still small voice—not because God is whispering to make things difficult, but because He wants me to lean in. He wants me to come closer.
This week, I encourage you to make your own Grief and Gratitude page. Be honest about what you are grieving, then remind yourself of what you are grateful for. Pray Psalm 27:13–14, sit quietly with the God who sees you, and listen.
When you lay your grief and gratitude before God and lean in a little closer, what might His still small voice be trying to help you hear?
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