#DAY ONE (1): i am feeling the arid drought and desperation of not being able to reblog wholesome content from onenicebugperday

[rebloggingrexan]

Second reblogging blog???

I just learned tumblr only lets you queue 300 posts per account, and I really enjoy queueing and reblogging.

Might make another blog for reblogging animal stuff??? Dunno. Just found out about the limit today when I hit it, and I’d like to keep reblogging a glut of nice buggy and lizard content but also have a lot of fanart stuff here.

I’ll find out how I’m handling my lack of queueing posts in a....... Let’s give it two weeks. xD

[littleliight]

Desert Super Bloom

4.24.17

kind of long; partly reflect-y and partly rambly.

basically--

The fact that something comes to an end doesn’t take away from the worth or value or joy of that experience. Why let fear for what may be in the future hinder my joy for what is present?

God is worthy (as always)

Philippians 3:8

Apparently in Cali, the deserts are having a "super bloom." 

After years of drought, the normally arid desert is lush."It just looks like a sea of flowers”

And yesterday, someone was praying for me and afterwards they shared that as they prayed, what they saw/thought about was this super bloom that’s been happening. So for me, after how difficult this past season has been with lots of pain, brokenness, desperation, and whatever other hard words we can think of to throw in there, this should be really encouraging to hear.

That maybe this upcoming season will be one of blooming and beauty and life.

But what holds me back from feeling excited is the fact that the blooming is temporary. The flowers will die again won’t they? Even in the article it says that these are ephemeral and that what you're looking at today could be gone tomorrow.

So why be excited for this bloom when the drought of the desert will return soon after? 

Apparently, visitors are coming from as far as (lists various places). This super bloom is so rare, so special, that looky-loos are causing traffic jams, getting lost in the hillsides and fainting from dehydration — just to take in the beauty.

But why go through so much, risk so much (dehydration? sunburn? gas? time? energy?) just for this?

Apparently their desire to see something different, something special, is more than their desire to stay home, to spend that day as any other day.

And I could also ask myself- why let the fact that something is temporary keep me from enjoying it fully now?

If I’m offered a once in a lifetime opportunity- all expense paid trip to Europe, spending a day with a favorite celebrity, having superpowers for a week, or anything else that isn’t usually within my expectations for events that day - would I pass that up? Say, nah it won’t last so why bother...?

No.... I’d take that trip. I’d meet that celebrity. I’d use those superpowers.

The fact that something comes to an end doesn’t take away from the worth or value or joy of that experience.

So putting this in the context of my relationship with God and the seasons of drought and bloom that He brings me through--

If God is going to be providing a “super bloom” for me in the upcoming season, should I not then be excited to experience something so special, so good? Why am I letting the fear of returning to a drought hinder me from fully rejoicing in the bloom? Why am I fearing that at all?

If coming out of this previous dead and painful season, I’m able to say that God has been faithful, God has been healing, God has never for a moment left me to wander the desert on my own.. then why am I afraid of potentially/eventually having to reenter another desert season?

Yes, it is uncomfortable. Yes, it is painful. Yes, there are many things about walking in a desert that aren’t that enjoyable.

But God has and does and wil sustain me through it all. So why fear? And why let that fear of what could be in the future hinder my joy for what is here in the present? 

I get to experience the fullness of joy that is to be in God’s presence. To experience his redemptive grace. To experience his relentless love. How could I let anything hinder me from freely worshipping and wholeheartedly rejoicing in my God?

ahfsdlkfjajl;ajfd

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.” [Psalm:27]

If I truly mean it when I sing “There’s no place I’d rather be than here in Your love,” and if being with God, being in His presence requires entering and exiting deserts, climbing out of valleys to get to mountain peaks, enduring darkness and pain and brokenness along the way...I have to believe it’s worth going through all of that to get to where He is.

And I have to surrender all the other comforts I’m trying to hold on to. To gain one thing is to let go of another. To be filled with more of Christ, I have to empty myself of the things of the world, my sin, my comforts, my fears and doubts.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”  [John 3:30]

If pain is inevitable (kind of emo but kind of true ya know?) then why would I not be so excited to soak up the goodness in the seasons of abundance? If the flowers are blooming in places where you usually don't see them, and if only for a brief period of time, why would I not rush to see this rare opportunity and just experience the moment for what it is? Wouldn’t I regeret not enjoying the bloom while it is here?

My perspective has been so pessimistic, I’ve been so hampered down by my fears of returning to a broken season that I’m not allowing myself to enjoy the moments of lifting-up that God is giving me now. As He’s been trying to help me up, I’m crumpling myself down to the ground because I can’t help but think, “I’m gonna fall down again, God what’s the point of getting up?”

But Jenn, getting up and moving forward brings you closer to God. How can you get nearer to Him if you just keep settling where you’re at every time you fall? God doesn’t want you to just be ‘okay’ in the outskirts of His presence. While being at the edge of His presence may be better than being far removed, God wants you to be with Him, to experience all that He is.

“Your steadfast love is better than life” [Psalm 63:3]

Better than any comforts I can create or find for myself, better than the best circumstances that could come together, better than life. asdlkfjsd I don’t always/fully believe that do I? ...

Jesus prayed that I would know God

 “...that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” [John 17:23]

Jesus died so that I may be with God.

“...in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself..” [2 Corinthians 5:19]

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God...” [1 Peter 3:18]

so now what...? Worship. My response should always be worship. Anything other than that is like spitting at Jesus as he hangs on the cross. Yikes.

Choosing to get up and move forward is worship. Choosing to hold on to the promises and character of God even when I dont feel like I believe it is worship. Fighitng to believe it’s worth it is worship.

so.....worship - in every wayshapeform - bc He’s worthy.

tl;dr

It’s all worth it to know God.

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.” [Philippians 3:8]