Stop Divorcing Yourself

I realized it as I was reading the first chapter in Ericka Morrison's book Bandersnatch: I used to try to divorce the artist in me because it didn't seem "Christian".

Let me explain.

I used to believe that I couldn't be both a poet and a preacher. The two seemed separate to me. Poet seemed worldly. Preacher seemed spiritual.

Teacher was the gift and the compromise and seemed to fit into both.

But I can't deny that I'm a poet. I realized last night that being a poet isn't wrong.

The mind of God is a poet.

Just like the mind of God is an engineer.

Just like the mind of God is a scientist.

Just like the mind of God is a mathematician.

Just like the mind of God is a psychologist.

We all hold fragments of the reflection of God. Genesis 1:26.

If we are only looking at the teachers and preachers we are only seeing part of Him.

If we only accept the more spiritual parts of ourselves we are leaving out soul and body.

My spirit is a prophetess but my soul is a writer. And He made me that way.

What's more than that: He likes me that way.

We are making God religious and boring.

God is mind-blowing and cool.

And we don't understand Him.

When we try to cut off parts of ourselves it is evidence that we are putting God in a box.

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I'm not saying that God doesn't want to take us on a journey to make us look more like Him. There are things that we will have to get rid of along our journey. There are sins we will have to shed. 

But we also don't have to divorce parts of ourselves.

We need all of the pieces within us to be whole- to be tied together in matrimony to Christ. 

You get to take along your eye for design. 

God has an eye for design.

HE MADE EVERYTHING.

You get to take along your calculations.

HE ORDERED THE MOON AND THE STARS.

You get to take along your art.

HE PAINTS THE SKY.

You get to take along your philosophy.

HIS THOUGHTS ARE HIGHER THAN OURS. 

HE CREATED ALL KNOWLEDGE. 

HE PROVIDES WISDOM.

I'm not talking about "accepting culture". Please don't get me wrong. I am talking about God being much less religious than we make Him. I am talking about God being the creator of everything. I am talking about the fact that we are made in His image. His image is complex. His image contains an infinite amount of faucets and fragments are seen in each of us. 

He cannot be contained, yet we contain pieces of Him.

With something to think about,

-Ashley

Fear

I've been re-evaluating a lot of things recently. I have been thinking about what the next season of my life will look like and quite frankly it both excites and scares me. 

I have seen two pictures that are really speaking to what the Lord is doing right now in my life for what is next.

The first one I saw on my way to school. It was the image of a piece of paper with the word FEAR on it written in red. I saw the piece of paper being torn in two.

The second image happened during service on Sunday morning. I saw myself holding a piece of paper with the word FEAR on it. However, this time I saw myself underwater and a huge whale was coming my way. I thought that the whale was going to swallow me, but instead it snatched the paper out of my hand and ate it. 

So, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that I've been dealing with some issues of fear in my life. The Lord is showing me these pictures to illustrate what He is doing. 

He is removing fear. He is swallowing fear. He is tearing fear in two. 

I think whatever it is that is threatening me the most in my life is going to be the thing that takes the fear out of my hand. 

Consider this for yourself was well. Whatever it is that is coming your way that looks like it will swallow you whole is really the thing in your life that is trying to destroy fear.