I have big plans for my writing this year and guess what? Everything stopped. So many ideas were created to assist with staying on track with writing and posting to share all that I have been going through in my journey. Then nothing. I had no desire to write, totally distracted by all the things going on around me I had no focus. My thoughts would not come together to focus on the task at hand. It took me awhile, but I finally decided it was necessary to spend time with God in fasting and prayer. There was an answer that I could not see, and I needed His guidance. So here I am sharing what has been revealed to me as I sat with Him. I pray it speaks to you where you are today.
In the last few years, I have become a plant mom. I mean when I find a new plant from my wish list I literally swoon. According to my husband our living room was becoming a jungle! And the kids think it is getting a bit out of hand. I am in a place of complete joy when I see my plants flourish and even when they lose some leaves due to my care or lack thereof. As I cared for my plants a scripture came to mind, you may know the one John 15:2. It states, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” And then the questions came, what is God pruning away in my life? What will the results bring forth? All I can say is my mind begin to flood with what God could be doing in my life by calling me to sit still in His presence.
Being still has never been my place of peace. For me there is always a plan that requires execution and if not, time was wasted. For the first quarter of this year God called me to do still. I had no plan, nothing to execute, for all He had instructed me to do was done. I felt like I was wasting so much time as there had to be something that I had forgotten to do. Yet, I had no desire to do anything but spend time with God.
During this time, I have read the Bible consistently allowing me to gain a clearer picture of the character of God. His mercy for us, His creations seemed endless. Due to His love for us, He allows us the choice to live our lives as we please. While we live out our wildest dreams, He is constantly present awaiting our desire for Him to be more than the things of this world. Realizing this truth about my God, it made me wonder why He would do this. Searching the scriptures the answer is found early in the Bible; we were created to be in relationship with God. This is not the first time I’ve heard this, yet this time it was different. Since I was in a place where my desire was for Him, our relationship was different. The anticipation I feel knowing that at a set time during the day I get to sit with God in prayer and have Him speak through His word fed a place in my heart that nothing else ever has.
This must have been what it was for Adam and Eve to meet with God daily in the cool of the day. To have Him see them in their true form with eyes of love feed any doubt that they were created and loved by the creator. Isn’t that what we look for in each other and can’t find? David writes in Psalm 63:1, that he sought God early and his soul thirst for Him. He was thirsty for something that nothing on earth could quench. It makes sense now why David spoke this way of His relationship with God. He had discovered what it means to sit in the presence of God and just be with Him. No agenda just being present knowing that God would be there because He desired him too. When desire is met with the same effort a freedom is present that allows for true connection.
In this time of stillness, God has also shown me more of me. While I think I have grown, He continues to show me areas that need to be pruned. Again, John 15:2, reminds me it is God who determines who I am. Time spent with Him without distractions allows Him to uproot ideas and mindsets that have attached themselves to my self-image that do not reflect His purpose for my life. Jeremiah’s prophecy noted in Jeremiah 1:5 tells me, as the master of all things created, God has known me far longer than I have been in existence. Before my mother even considered the possibility of me, God decided who I would be. The enemy works to keep us so distracted that we never learn the truth of who we are. He succeeded with Adam and Eve when he distracted them from the truth of their access to the One who possessed all knowledge. He left them with a question that altered their mindset “Did God say..”. Instead of going to God for assistance, they tried to figure it on their own by doing what they thought was best. Their choice cost us all a relationship we fight daily to maintain.
While this has been my experience as 2025 started, I encourage you to plant yourself in the presence of God and allow Him to give you what you need to grow in relationship with Him. Like my plants, we have to be willing to sit still and allow growth to happen while we gain what we need from the Son. When we have outgrown where we are we must trust that the creator will upgrade our pots to increase our growth. He will add the soil we need to grow deep roots with a mindset firmly rooted in who He is and who He has called us to be. Stay planted family.