Thursday, March 27, 2008

Take my life, I'm letting go

Take my heart, I Lay it down
At the feet of you whose crowned
Take my life, I’m letting go
I lift it up to You who’s throned

And I will worship You, Lord
Only You, Lord
And I will bow down before You
Only You Lord

Take my fret, take my fear
All I have, I’m leaving here
Be all my hopes, be all my dreams
Be all my delights, be my everything

And it’s just you and me here now
Only you and me here now



I'm a do-it-myself kind of girl. I know how I want things done, and it's just too hard to let someone else do it. so, I do it myself. always. (ask Rachel Paul (: )

but I can't do that anymore.

because when I'm doing it all myself, I'm not letting God do anything.

Those 5 weeks after Thailand were some of the hardest weeks I've had in a while. I missed everyone, the kind of deep, aching sensation you feel when all you want to do is be back with the people you miss so much. I allowed myself time to think and miss them (it's not like I was sleeping much anyways) but after awhile, it got too hard. so I threw myself into my work. school work, preps for Honduras. I dove into them headfirst, not accepting help except from the people from whom I had to accept it from. I got a lot done. but I didn't allow God to prepare me. I didn't allow Him to do His work. I figured I could just prepare myself.

wow. I was so wrong.

I was talking and sharing with a friend recently, and as we talked about struggles, past and present, she said something interesting, and something I don't think I will easily forget.

"I've learned that I have to depend on God, even for basic life functions."

my heart just breaks.
I have pushed God out of my daily life.

I was too busy.
I was too independent.
I was, in my mind, too self-sufficient. too good.

but now I see.
and all I want is for Him to infuse me.


I can feel myself holding something, some part of me, back. There's something I'm not giving up. and I don't know what it is yet. I've got a death grip on some part of me. and I'm feeling frustrated, because I just can't seem to put my finger on it.

my soul says "Lord! Father! Deliverer! I want to worship You, only You."
but my flesh gets in the way.

my spirit is willing, but my flesh is so weak.


funny how your flesh can seem so weak in one way, yet such a powerful force in other ways.


I ask for your prayers.
I have had nothing but purely selfish motives lately. nothing but self-centered thoughts. I have done nothing but worship myself.


Good and Faithful One, You have proven Your love. You did not withold Your Son. Heaven's Love came down, life with You, my Crown! How could I not then love You?
Here's my heart, bowed down. --The Longing


Our Father was so unselfish.
I was watching 10,000 BC today, and there's this part where the main character's woman dies. He has traveled deserts, mountains, fought battles, risked his life innumerable times. and she dies. He's sitting there holding her, in this intense pain. this intense heartache.
and as I sat there watching, I thought "Wow. that would suck so much."

Imagine what it's like for God.
He sacrifices and sacrifices. He creates us, watches us fall, and then makes the ultimate sacrifice: He dies for us.
and so few of us recognize the deep, aching longing in our hearts as a longing for the One who was humiliated, beat, spat on, and pierced for our freedom.


what a great word;; longing
it has soul.




I just want to give my heart away. lay it down as an offering.
a sacrifice, pure, acceptable, and lovely.

I don't know how else to express myself.
I want to stand, with arms high and heart abandoned.



I want to live in a constant state of worship.

5 comments:

johnQIII said...

Longing. We really do have a longing for something more in life. Dont we?

I was talking to my friend the other day we where talking kind of the same thing. I said "I am a very independent person but I have found over the last few weeks that I CANT be independent from God."

I think for me it is pride.

Kind of funny how it seems I have been going over the same thing in my head/heart over on this side of the world.

shalom.

hopepiirto said...

Em, I don't know how you do it.

You manage to get your innermost feelings out on "paper" in the most beautifully written way.

You should write a book. lol.

You've also managed to smack me directly in the face. You've pinpointed exactly what I'm dealing with. Dang, again, how do you do it?

Thanks for writing these, they help a lot more people than you think.

rachmipaul55 said...

Man, this is convicting.
Especially for do-it-yourself kind of girls like me.

(just ask Emily Williams =D)

But, yeah, ugh.
I was thinking about how hard it is for me to find the fine line between being safely-independent & being destructively-independent.

Then, I just felt like God was saying there is no such line. If we put our faith in God there's no reason to protect ourselves from dissapointment from other people, you know? I think it's hard for me to grasp that I don't HAVE to be self-sufficient.

Anyways, I'm probably not making sense anymore.
Point is-this is convicting.

I want to stand with arms high and heart abandoned.

I've got the arms up. But, my heart just won't follow suit.

Eliza Ray said...

I agree with Rachel.

This is so convicting.

I just...wow. Em. Seriously, I just can't even think of the right words. You have such a talent at writing, it's amazing. And I totally can relate to this post...

Never stop writing.

Emily said...

Good post! Then again, your posts are always good...
Way off topic here, but..
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
May the Lord continue to bless you in the coming year, drawing you nearer to Himself. You are one of the people I look at and am pointed right back at Christ. May He continue to be glorified in your life.
Love,
Emily

(I would've emailed instead of hijaking your comment section, but I don't have your address on this computer... And this way everyone else gets to remember your birthday too :)