“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”  Proverbs 29:18 KJV

I haven’t posted in a while.  Nothing I’ve written lately has made any sense.  Once in a while, I’ll write something to submit to a publisher or a contest just to see if I can get a reaction.  Recently I wrote something that I thought was quite profound and I sent it on to one of these publishers. Usually I never hear anything from them, but this time I got a letter back.  As I opened the letter, I hoped to finally hear someone was interested in my writing.  But no such luck.  It was a rejection letter.   I’d rather not receive any response at all than to be totally and completely, without any doubt, rejected.  So here I am.  Stuck.  Unable to write.

Rather than move on to the next thing like we’re supposed to do, I took it personally and stopped writing all together.  I haven’t had a reasonable conversation with God in about a month.  I’ve allowed the evil one to convince me that I am not a writer and that God didn’t have anything to say to me.

I listened to all the lies; the lie that nobody is interested in having a conversation with me, that I was a poser, and that I needed approval from some faceless publisher.  We can be our own worst critics, and Satan knows this about us.  He knows our insecurities.  His job is to steal, kill and destroy.  As I climbed into the pit, He was right there with me, whispering the lies into my ear.  And this time, I listened.

I lost my vision.  I began to perish.

After two months of perishing, God used a woman named Carol to get my attention.  Carol is in the midst of crisis, and as I sat next to her, trying to comfort her, she comforted me instead.  She told me she had come across my blog.  She said that the entries were good and recommended to the rest of the group that they take a look.  She thanked me for sharing my gift.  But it wasn’t just Carol’s words that warmed my heart; it was the bright, loving smile that lit up her whole face!

God often shows up with His awesome, amazing power, and does very ordinary things.  He uses that power to encourage us as we cross paths with one another; even when we are not paying attention.  You may not even know that you have impacted someone’s life by your words of encouragement, or even just a smile.

Carol had no idea I was struggling, and yet, she showed up as God’s angel, full of love and hope.  She spoke life giving words directly to my heart in order to for me to climb out of the pit and persevere through the pain of rejection.

When we focus on ourselves, and on the world, instead of helping people, we lose vision.  We perish.

When we focus on God’s plan, His vision, and His direction, we gain back our sight.

Lord, help us never lose sight of Your plan for our lives.  Help us continue to persevere through all life’s circumstances, including rejection.  Please reveal Yourself through the people in our lives, and continue to show up with your awesome power to turn ordinary things into Your extra-ordinary plan.   In Jesus name  ~Amen.

Peace be with you.  It’s good to be back!

~Julia