grace

Finding freedom

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

Living within the constraints of chronic illness, or other limitations, needn’t mean living a limited life.

We may have to be more creative in the ways we seek soul sustenance.

Have support and input from others, perhaps.

Imagination and insight play their part.

Freedom can be found in unexpected ways and places.

I am discovering how my mind and spirit can roam free even if my body cannot.

And how feeling chained is a state of mind.

Being captive to circumstances is a choice.

Being free is another.

‘Freedom’

I’m blue-sky

thinking,

dreaming, drifting,

white-clouded

pillow-sinking

A vast horizon

hones into view ~

inviting, enticing,

warmly beckoning

to me and to you

Feel the sand yield

beneath your feet,

salt-tangled breeze,

melting mists that

waft and greet

Wet pavements glistening

in the sun,

as we shuffle,

amble, or break

into a run

Noisy clamour of

a city-busy throng,

elbowing, thrusting

through crowds

to where we belong

Stinging crystalline snowflakes

bite our faces,

reshaping the familiar

into landscapes

of inaccessible places

Even when confined

to bed or chair,

my unfettered mind

is free

to roam anywhere

All it takes

is a pause, glimpse, a look,

with time to reflect ~

on the words and images

contained in a book.

©JoyLenton2012

freedom poem pin

**NOTE** As you can see, this is one of my ‘here’s one I made earlier’ poems for such a time as this. It originally appeared on this post on my blog, ‘Words of Joy’, where I spoke about adjusting to loss, and the freedom we can have in Christ.

National Poetry month 2014 image

 

You have a story to tell

/ Joy Lenton / 26 Comments

file000402181324

Sometimes our own words come back to haunt us.

Or an annoyingly catchy phrase from a song lingers way too long.

Then there are the words spoken to us, over us and into our lives.

We live and breathe story. Our lives are wrapped up and unfold in it.

The tangled threads of our days are being woven into a greater narrative of God’s design.

He finds ways to bring what we need to hear and heed back to our remembrance.

It happened to me recently. Words hung in my head and called me to pay attention. I found them in my Prayer Journal.

The ‘Prayer Whisper’ below was received over a year ago but it meets me where I am right now as a woman of faith, writer and poet.

And it whispers gentle into my future still hidden in Christ.

As an M.E and chronic illness sufferer, who is still battling a painful past by the grace of God, I need to believe it’s not all about me and my troubles but about how He is bringing me through them.

God calls me to share my pain and the overcoming of it through poetry and prose. Maybe you can do that too? We all need to know we are not alone.

There is hope. You matter. Your story matters to us and to God.

In the sharing of it we are all enriched, encouraged and supported, inspired to believe for good outcomes.

My hope and prayer is that you will find courage to share your story and grow stronger in the process.

‘Prayer Whisper:Your story matters’

“You have a message to share. You have a story to tell. Surrender the outcome to Me. All I ask of you is that you are willing to write as I guide, speak as I direct, and listen continually for My promptings. Sometimes words will flow and be written down; other times you wait in faith and trust, with expectancy, and I will provide as you take the first step.

Surrender your tools to Me. Your pen, paper, keyboard, phone or voice. In My hands they will accomplish far more than you can imagine. If words stall and you feel blocked from speaking, do not allow fear to paralyse you further. Continue to believe that I will provide.

There will be seasons of bounty and seasons of fallow. Believe I am in both. Your heart may need surgery. Your attitude and thoughts may need correction. It is necessary to purify and make you fit for purpose.

Then you will come forth as gold and shine with My radiance and glory. I will renew and restore what is broken and lost. You still see holes. I see more areas where My grace can filter through.

Trust the work I am doing in you. Broken, weak and wounded people surrendered to Me are the most beautiful vessels to reflect My Light to others”.

Joining here with Ruth for #letterto ~ ‘Letter to a future me’

And with Jen as we find heaven in the everyday

Putting the pieces together

/ Joy Lenton / 19 Comments

I see it all around. The very air we breathe is thick with the sound of it.

Sorrow hangs heavy. Need drives us to our knees.

People are crying out for grace ~ but they don’t even know it.

Souls weep silent into pillows when losses outweigh any gains and hopes wither and die.

What or who can save us from ourselves and the pain we have to press past on a daily basis?

When life breaks us apart, where do we go to be put back together again?

In my life, the answer may come quick and easy. But the living out? That’s a lifetime’s work.

Renewal and restoration cannot be rushed. Full and complete healing cannot be hurried.

Jesus saves. We know it. We read it. We believe it. We sing about it. And yet..

This world has a way of swallowing us whole and spitting us out. Broken people living fractured lives.

So what does grace look like?

It wears the face of Christ. It’s the very heart of God. Nothing weak or namby pamby about it.

This is grace:It’s solid, muscular, with bite crisp-clean into a bountiful harvest of real gritty righteousness. It floods and fills all the empty spaces of our existence with strength, power and might. 

Living as we do in the tension between the ‘now but not yet’ of the Kingdom, we are people in transition, works in progress by God’s grace.

Much is changing and moving forward, and much still requires transformation to come.

‘Variant themes’

I’m broken, fractured, full of holes,

splintered, wrecked right into my soul

Pieces from the past pierce and press sharp

tearing fierce into the tenderest of parts

Deep calls to deep in the thundering roar

of Your waterfall’s steady, refreshing pour

Wounds fester and hurts remain sealed

in a life crying out to be rescued and healed

Echoing chasms where Your voice is heard

and we drink thirsty of its life-giving Word

How do the variant themes unite as one

perfect melody, harmony and song?

Strung as pearls, lustre-reflecting beads

shine bright and pure in you and me

Discordant sounds may shatter the air around,

joy remains ~ as seed rooted to the ground

Stop. Slow down. Breathe. Listen closer. Pause a while.

Walk gentler. Carry lighter. Don’t forget to smile.

©JoyLenton2014

As to the question, “How do I make all the pieces fit?”, I think the answer is, we can’t do it ourselves. God never intended us to bear that burden. It’s too weighty for our frame.

And that’s a freeing statement. It opens the door to Holy Spirit intervention.

The shards of our shattered hopes and dreams become a marvellous mosaic in God’s hands.

When we take those broken pieces of our lives, frayed fabric of our days, torn edges of our thoughts, tangled threads of our theology, gaps and holes in our flawed and imperfect understanding ~ all become sacrificial surrender, holy offering, and a handing over to the Master Potter and Architect of our souls.

He alone can fully mend, heal, renew and restore to better than it was before. We seek, ask, do our part, trust, rest, and leave the outcome up to Him. 

It isn’t easy. Everything inside cries out to know and understand beforehand. Relinquishing control is a challenge.

Resting is a conscious choice, and the best way of allowing God’s peace to replace anxiety and stress.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Joining here with friends: Diana, Mel and Lyli. 

Against the tide

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

In the flotsam and jetsam of life we soon discover our shared humanity.

It is said that time and tide wait for no man. We cannot claw it back or alter its progress.

Similarly, suffering is universal. Pain, loss, grief, hardship, sickness, calamities beset us all.

Though there is no way of assessing its intensity. It is personal and painful, no matter what.

What is minor for one is major to another. Comparisons are useless. We can only accept suffering of varying degree exists and is hurtful to all who experience it. 

Where do we turn to in our suffering? Or, more correctly, whom?

There is One who Scripture depicts as ‘a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief/familiar with suffering’. He took our shared humanity, knows and understands intimately what we go through.

Jesus bore every sin, sickness, dis-ease of every kind on the cross for us.

He willingly embraced it all for the joy set before Him ~ of restoring us back to the Father’s side.

‘Against the tide’

Calamity cracks us open to the core

revealing our frail humanity

exposing vulnerability ~ tender, flawed

Beneath this skin, the carapace I’m in,

lies a raw, wounded human being

If each person is an island , then

we’re all floating in a communal sea

desperately trying not to drown

It takes courage to swim against the tide

when there’s no sheltering place to hide

Until a safe harbour hoves into view

tugging gentle on our heartstrings

willing us to steer strong and true

Vessels rest weary, depleted, worn,

storm-battered, tattered, torn

Ready to refuel and be restored again,

seeking respite for a little longer

we prepare to face fierce winds and rain

Now with our Captain at the helm

these surging tides no longer overwhelm

©JoyLenton2014

Sinking into the arms of God is what helps us stay afloat in the changing tides of life. He holds us up when we’re too weak, weary and overwhelmed to do more than flounder in the waves.

Being found in Him, we can learn to let go of fear. Find peace and rest. Be soothed and settled. Find reassurance and ease.

Love rescues us. Love surrounds and keeps us steady, on an even keel. Love embraces our brokenness and begins to piece us together again ~ bit by bit. It is the anchor for our souls.

And we see we are far from alone. Others are in the trenches too. Many voices clamouring for relief from misery. Brothers and sisters in suffering.

Those who are strong can help to carry the weak. Sit in the ashes. Hold hands and hearts. Listen and lean hard on solid Rock until the tides turn in our favour once more.

Because the best place to take sorrow, grief, pain and suffering is to the One who can support us through it and works to set us free.

Joining here with Diana and other questing souls as we are #livingthequestions and #livingintotheanswers

You are very welcome to join in the discussion.

Love is speaking

/ Joy Lenton / 12 Comments

Love speaks to us in myriad ways. Way beyond Valentine cards, roses and chocolates ~ welcome as they are.

There is heartache and elation, pain and promise, sadness and joy wrapped up in human love, circumscribed as it is by our woundedness.

We can be broken and made new by love.  God’s love heals, renews, restores and makes us whole.

The Word made flesh  revealed in Jesus offers us the gift of mercy, grace and forgiveness from His poured out blood-bought sacrifice.

We are eternally, unconditionally and wonderfully loved beyond anything we can know or imagine.

All creation continually signals the love of the Creator.

It is never silent because God is constantly pouring out His love to us.

He longs for us to know Him and discover we are deeply loved by Him. It’s the greatest love story ever told.

‘Love speaks’

Love speaks

As

an aching formless void, seeming nothingness

into which pours poetry, music, melody and noise

In

the echoes of a dream, vibrancy we glean

in everything we encounter, visible and unseen

So

we tune our hearts to hear soft whispers

on the wind tickling our attentive ears

With

longing breaking forth in our souls,

a sense of awe, wonder, becoming and belonging

 Begin

to make us feel complete, fulfilled, whole,

so we strain to draw close, come near

 To

the Source of all we could or would be

growing familiar as He starts to appear

 And

lingers to impart His light and grace from above

into thankful hearts made ready for His love

©JoyLenton2014

The video below is a love letter from the Father’s heart to our own.

It speaks volumes about how each and every one of us is deeply loved and special to God.

May it bless and encourage your heart as you watch it.

Linking here with Jennifer,  Lyli, Mel and Laura

Seeking sanctuary

/ Joy Lenton / 19 Comments

We all need a safe place to vent. Let off steam. Be ourselves, warts and all.

Be real and authentic in sharing life and faith issues.

Consider the question, “Is there room for my tears here?” being asked by Diana Trautwein this week.

We read in the shortest verse in Scripture, “Jesus wept”  ~ John 11:35.  Succinct words speaking volumes. He was unafraid to be authentically open and human. Giving us a pattern for being fully human and fully alive unto God.

Our tears are a soul’s lament. Reminder of our weakness, frailty and humanity.

If we try to keep them hidden they still find  a way to rise, unbidden, to the surface.

Revealing deep emotion at the core ~ joy, pain, vulnerability, sadness and grief. The very heart of who we are.

Though we find ways to choke them down and bid them drown in their inner stream.

In the unraveling of life, thought and years, we soon discover our safety and security is found primarily in God alone.

As a body of believers in Christ we are joined by links of love and shared endeavour in the fight of faith.

We’re all invited to enter in, embrace God’s gift of grace seen in Jesus’ suffering, pain and loss for our sakes.

We’re welcomed to a place of love and acceptance. A hospital for the hurting ~ only some churches hide that pretty well.

I’m too weary and worn out to try to pretend I’ve ‘got it all together,’ and too desiring of being a voice for those who are hurting to stay silent in my small-corner obscurity.

Because in the end it comes down to how much we love and are loved.  How much we are willing to give to one another.

Make room in our own woundedness to walk the road with others who are weak and in pain. Be a sanctuary for the seeking, the saved and those sick in body, mind or heart. 

Weep with those who weep. Rejoice with all who rejoice. Lift and uphold each other in prayer. Come alongside and be Christ’s ambassadors in caring for all in need.

The poem below expresses my hopes about being part of the body of Christ, what I am currently experiencing as a member of some lovely supportive writing and friendship groups and the reflective, sharing ‘Living the Questions’ group over at Diana’s place.

Although this is the type of welcome we could (and probably should?) be extending to all our brothers and sisters in Christ.

‘Invitation’

Your tears ~ whether of joy or sorrow ~ will find a welcome here

Your questions and fears for tomorrow we too will share

Your faith journey and experiences in all their rich variety

serve to enrich and inform us of all we still can be

Your need for speaking out in a friendly space

can be met here in this ~ a safe and open place

Your desire to listen, reflect and ponder deeply

is found in this forum and sacred sanctuary

©JoyLenton2014

Sadly, many feel disappointed, discouraged, sidelined, ignored, bruised, hurt and wounded by church. Perhaps we forget we are all imperfect ‘works in progress’. This prayer may help. It was written in support of all wounded warriors.

There should always be room for tears ~ and laughter, joy, hand-holding, lifting up, coming alongside, praying, caring and sharing as we aim to be ‘Jesus with skin on’ for one another.

Joining here with Diana, Mel, Laura and Lyli

Moments in time

/ Joy Lenton / 13 Comments

That ‘Monday morning’ feeling can sneak up on a person. Blues breathe their fumes all over the day, leaking into the rest of the week.

Maybe I’m feeling my age. A body’s aches and pains pave the way to pivotal thinking.

A new week begins and life moves on. There is no way to grasp back time.

Maybe I’m more aware of my mortality.

This life spans out with defined end points. A gateway to the grave.

And I am hungry to redeem whatever time is left. Capture the essence of it all.

Be aware of each precious moment.

Live with an attitude of gratitude.

Listen to my life.

“Listen for him. Listen to the sweet and bitter airs of your present and your past for the sound of him” ~ Frederick Beuchner

Hear Holy Spirit speaking. Sense His whispers on the wind.

Heed the call to live life as fully and freely as possible.

Because each breath and each day is gift; every moment is grace.

And I know I need to be ready to embrace change ~ even as I cling to God’s grace to let go of familiar.

‘Time’

Centuries chronicle events in cement

Hours herald a pause, point, purpose

Rivers run into tides of transformation

Omega opens a final pathway to tread

No mere mortal can stem the flow

Old originating in the new, ad infinitum

Seconds, seasons and sadness signal its passing

©JoyLenton2014

‘Chronos’

Time on the move 

 a barely perceptible stream

which goes before  

 flows in-between and after

time as the future

 passing through the present

 and becoming the past

 sequential  and eventual

sliding on fast

 to its final descent

©JoyLenton2014

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

How do you feel about redeeming the time and making the most of the moments?

 

Living freely

/ Joy Lenton / 15 Comments

Aren’t you relieved there are no identi-kit Christians?

We don’t have to look or sound alike.

Having unity together is more about fellowship and being united in love than having full agreement on more than the fundamentals of our faith.

We are allowed to be ourselves. See wood where others see trees. Sense Holy Spirit’s presence in a variety of ways.

God meets us right where we are, at our point of greatest need.

He chased me and wooed me with His unconditional Love.

It was something I’d never encountered before, but my empty, old before its time, desperate-child heart yearned for it.

Here was safety. Here lay security. Here flowed acceptance and peace.

And I came to faith in a ‘happy-clappy’ environment where joy and exuberance were the order of the day.

I wore ‘Jesus Loves Me/You’ stickers, a big grin, innocent optimism in sharing my new-found life in Christ, and a profound gratitude toward God for the glorious gift of salvation.

So I continued for a little while until mental health breakdown, partial recovery, followed by life’s multiple challenges, another breakdown and a haunting legacy of childhood abuse sucked all the joy out of life.

Depression and emotional pain skewed my thinking, clouded my judgement, and left me lost in the wilderness for many years.

Where did God feature? Was His love enough? Was it my fault?

A slow recovery took place and I had a fresh revelation of grace. I drank it deep into my very being as soul manna and sustenance.

But having begun my faith journey majoring on love and forgiveness, I was still largely ignorant of sin and reluctant to speak or think about it. This woman was already stained by her past, full of guilt, shame, self-recrimination and condemnation. And God loved her anyway. 

Because, wasn’t God a God of love? Didn’t grace and forgiveness cover all?

Oh yes.

Though grace is cheapened if we fail to fully appreciate the price Jesus paid to secure it for us.

Now, a little older (and wiser maybe?), though I still struggle with self-esteem issues and will always veer the conversation round to grace and encouragement than otherwise, it is gradually dawning on me how sin cannot be ignored or swept away.

And I am still getting my head around how to achieve the balance between hating sin yet not hating myself. Maybe you get stuck there too?

My soul seeks freedom from all that chained me and those things enslaving me now.

I want to embrace grace and be free to give it to others.

So I am leaning into His love as I think. question, talk about sin’s effects and outworkings, see how fallible and tainted I am and yet (marvellously) so dearly loved and cherished by our heavenly Father ~ just as you are too.

******

Here is a ‘Prayer Whisper’ which God poured into my listening heart last February. It still speaks volumes to me and I hope it will bless you too:

file000402181324“How easily you can fool yourself that you’re not sinning. To justify your actions with excuses and cover-ups.

Allow My Holy Light to shine upon your thoughts, words and deeds. Do not be afraid of its consuming power. It will not harm you.

I seek only to burn off the dross and detritus you carry. Such things weigh you down, sully your relationship with Me and sour your interactions with others.

I want to set you free, even from those burdens you have barely noticed as such ~ so familiar have they become.

It is only in the cleansing which follows letting go and laying down that real change and transformation can happen.

Bad habits pollute your mind and body. Once you are able to set them down before Me, you can begin the process of breaking free from them.

Open yourself. Be real before Me. I already know everything about you. Seek to live freely and lightly in the liberty of My Presence.

My purity and power are available to enable and equip you for the next stage of your journey.”

********

“The fact that God is love, that He is pure, holy and righteous is the reason why He is angry at sin. It violates, distorts, and destroys what His purpose is. Wrath is inevitable to a God of love, otherwise the love would be tenuous and weak” ~ Charles Price ‘My Daily Journey with Christ’ 

Joining here with Diana and other questing souls as we are #LivingtheQuestions and #LivingintotheAnswers

This week’s question:”What’s with all this talk about sin?”  You are very welcome to hop over and join in the discussion.

Also linking with Mel and Laura

Fuel to light a fire

/ Joy Lenton / 16 Comments

In these dark days of Winter we need all the help we can get to stay hopeful and encouraged.

Some seasons of the soul have their own gloomy aspect.

Fog swims in to cloud our vision.

Hope gets lost. Despair can set in. Depression is at its heels.

How can we encourage ourselves? Here are a few ideas:

Stay focussed on the positive. There is always a glimmer of light somewhere.

Keep a daily gratitude journal.

Nurture yourself inwardly and outwardly.

Feed on God’s word.

Seek the balm of friendship and support from loved ones.

Finding ways to help and encourage others will restore joy to our own souls too.

Some more thoughts on encouragement for #fiveminutefriday where we pour out words as God gives grace:

START…

‘Encouragement’

Encouragement is the fuel which lights a fire

of hope to all our dreams and desires.

Life can seem worth living again

under the sprinkle of its refreshing rain.

A word in due season can impart

a soothing balm to a broken heart,

Holy oil to bathe wounds and hurts

as it pours into everywhere we insert.

Life-giving, enhancing, gift and grace

to anoint and energise us for our race.

Whether by caring word or deed

we sow love and kindness seed.

And it gives and gives and gives some more

returning to us when we’re wretched and poor,

lighting a spark when energy is low

providing far more than we’ll ever know.

So God encourages us all to strive

to pour this gift into another’s life ~ 

A listening ear, understanding, a hand to hold,

words and actions together make it twofold;

let it be given as we also enjoy receiving

the reassurance it offers to keep on believing.

©JoyLenton2014

STOP.

Joining here with Lisa-Jo, Mel and Laura and other brave and bold creatives as we share what God lays on our heart .

And for further encouragement ~ because don’t we just need it? ~ here’s a link to my writer friend James Prescott’s site where he specialises in the subject and has some great free resources to offer you too. Just click on his name to be taken there.

Words for wounded warriors

/ Joy Lenton / 7 Comments

In a season where there is more physical and emotional challenge than usual, it helps to think of others who are also in need.

So many wear smiles on the outside yet feel broken inside.

So many give and give and give some more until they are left as limp, worn-out rags.

It can take all the courage we can muster just to face another day.

And often the most holy thing we can do is just to take a nap.

A heart can ache heavy with unspoken fears and cares.

We can feel alone in a sea of faces.

We can move heaven and earth for our loved ones only to be rejected or neglected.

Try as we might, we cannot suppress all the pain we carry.

As I reflect more on my life in an effort to hear all God may be saying to me, I find myself thrown to my knees more often than not.

And there I discover the One who inhabits all the hard places we find ourselves in.

God’s grace crawls into every crack and crevice of our days.

All the mess and mayhem, muddle and struggle are known to Him.

So we pray…

‘A prayer for the hurting’

God bless the wounded warriors,

the ones who crawl and cry through,

those who press in and press on 

with leaking eyes and leaking wounds,

the battle-scarred and beaten down.

Bless the broken-hearted, bleeding and bruised

 reeds rubbed raw by those who have 

rubbished and rejected them,

those who can barely lift their face

weighed heavy with shame and disgrace.

Hold those who cannot hold on another minute,

whose lives are fear-filled,

whose faces are tear-filled,

who feel empty of worth and value

of no repute, cast aside, left behind.

Keep safe the ones who are drowning,

whose days and nights 

drip with disappointment,

dread, darkness and torment 

of body and soul.

Cradle the lonely;

let your love wash over them,

embrace their emptiness

and fill with the companionship

that only Your Presence provides.

Come alongside the misunderstood,

the marginalised,

the misfits,

the mayhem makers

and risk takers.

Bring strength to the weary,

grace for the weak,

hope for the hurting,

freedom for captives,

peace for the pain.

The path is long, the way is hard,

finishing line too far to see

as we drag there on our knees,

dry and thirsty for relief

desperate for some ease.

Walk with us as you did of old

on sand-crusted shore,

dirt-trodden pathways,

seeking and saving 

those who are lost.

For we need you, Lord Jesus;

Your return seems far off,

We fight and we fail,

shout, cry and rail,

for a touch from above.

Amen

©JoyLenton2013

 “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out” ~ Isaiah 42:3

This poetic prayer lament appeared first on Words of Joy. It is a heart’s cry God delights to answer. Hungry, hurting hearts will always find grace to help in time of need.

May it bless you to read it here and remember that God is with you in every trouble, trial and testing. If you would like me to pray for a specific need, please reply in the comments below.

And keep in mind that God loves you so much, just as you are ~ He really does ~ and wants above all things for you to seek His face in the everyday challenges of life.