wearied. worn. waiting.

take heart, oh my soul. His promises are sure. they're coming. they're coming.

in the middle-- between your obedience and the coming deliverance-- you aren't abandoned. you haven't strayed from the eyes of your Father. He knows the tension between your faith in what He's said and your wearied, worn out spirit.

He's not upset with the way you feel in your season of wilderness. He's not disappointed when your knees buckle and you find yourself on the ground needing a drink of renewed hope. a bruised reed He will not break-- He is gentle. a protector and a covering for the weak and needy.

it's my nature and tendency to feel that I have to appear strong before both the Lord and the people around me. falling into living according to the lie of- weakness, tears and doubt being an outward display of an inner lack of faith. a lack of trust in the time of waiting that He has ordained for me. and that lie not only has drawn me further away from the heart of the Father, but from the hearts and arms of the people He's surrounded me with.

the truth of His words and steadiness of His love are meant to guard and protect us in seasons of waiting. the enemy's arrows lose their ability to harm when the heart they're aimed at is covered and hidden in the Defender.

He's not asking you to be strong before Him. that's a qualification that we wrote in on our checklist of what's necessary to approach the throne of grace. when Jesus went to the cross, every qualification necessary to enter the presence of God died and went to the grave with Him. but when He rose again, they stayed buried. never again needed, never again required.

He wants us to come and fall straight into His arms--needy, limping and broken. He delights in our weakness, for it is then that His strength can become our resting place. He's already seen it all-- you don't need to hide it anymore. it's okay.

let Him translate the safety of His arms into the arms of His people. you don't have to show up strong. you don't have to hold it all alone. you can choose to come broken, come needy. His love can so tangibly be felt in the arms and words of community. believe it. trust it.

learning to lean in again. learning the beauty of having others' faith come alongside my own when mine is wearied. learning again to come out of hiding and into the light and love of the Lord. so simple, so hard, so beautiful, so necessary.

the wilderness, the middle, the waiting-- He has the ability to make it not a place of barrenness but fullness. so lean into agreement-- because won't He do it.