Beneath the Surface

Alright, so here it is. I love blogs. About a month ago, I stumbled across this great little blog and one of the best parts is that there is a new post on it everyday! The author’s name is Emily and this blog is called “An Object.” Every single day, she writes about an inanimate object and I must say, I adore it! I love her heart, her writing style and the opportunity to drink in the beauty of how she views the little things in life. I am an avid follower and wanted to share this little gem on my blogs. So here it is! Check her out at www.anobjectblog.blogspot.com Go on, do it! You won’t be disappointed! (:

How awesome would it have been to have learned from and studied under the Apostle Paul? Reading today through the books of 1 and 2 Timothy, I could not help but ponder it. What must it have been like to glean from his God-given wisdom? To have received one of his letters, written in his own hand, addressed personally to you and chalked full of charges and encouragements? To have spoken to him, be known to him by name? Yet as my mind contemplated these things, a realization began to sink in. I am Paul’s student. Just as he taught Timothy, so he also teaches me. But wait, there is so much more! Not only do I have Paul as an instructor, but a Bible full of divine mentors. Yet even this does not come near to what follows.

Quotation marks are funny things. We see them an immediately it's as if all our senses are forced to hone in on what is to follow. We are not fooled. If there be quotation marks, what they contain is important. Personally, I love quotes. For a while now, I have been compiling a list of my favorites and decided to share a few of them on here. If you want to see them, check out the above tab. I hope you enjoy them and allow them to inspire you as much as they have done for me. Enjoy! (:

We are beings that see with such jaded eyes. Many times, it’s almost as if there be a thin glaze, a cloudy transparency, a blockade that keeps us from seeing as we should. We view the world in its splendor and man in his tremendous worth and disregard so much. Oh the sharing of a heart, the touching of one’s soul! We see flesh covered bones more often than masqueraded souls. Precious gems of the heart are tucked behind our natural gaze and escape our petty thoughts. We seek a view of surface gliding than the adventure of diving to the depths of one’s being.

She was walking though the local grocery store with her father, a girl on a mission. A mission to buy a gallon of milk. As she briskly strode through the aisles, the chill of the refrigerator section sent chills through her body. Finally reaching the back, milk in hand, they made their way toward the check stand. While her father chatted with the cashier, her eyes wandered, pursuing that candies and magazines typical to every store, designed to entice customers for that last second buy. Their purchase made, they dawdled towards the exit. That’s when it happened. A boy sitting only 15 feet away. Their eyes met, if only for a second, but it was still plenty of time to make an impact. She knew him. Knew his name. Knew that they had gone to school together. Knew that he came to church that one time. And with the way he looked at her, she knew he knew her too. They were not close, he and her. In fact, they were not even friends. But they knew one another, and that’s when it hit her. As she walked past him without a second glance, something dropped in her stomach. A realization.

Today she had seen three others like him. People that she knew from a variety of places, to whom she did not say a word. Not one of them, as far as she knew, a Christian. How often every day she lives her life in such a manner. It disgusted her. How can see live in a world among the perishing while never trying to save them. Though she certainly did open her mouth and speak to random “run-ins” quite often, there were also times she stood distant. So often she bore the uncomfort of seeing a past acquaintance, a face matched with a name, as she strode through life. How difficult would it be to muster a smile, a simple greeting perhaps? Would it kill her to merely ask about their day, their life and perhaps even go as far as inviting them to church? Yet again and again, she played ignorant, covering her eyes and quieting her conscience to excuse her from interaction. How silly. How uncaring. How many God-made appointments has she missed, not because she was not present, but due to her own unwillingness and selfish desire to stay comfortable? No more can she stand back. No more will she justify a missed appointment due to the making of another. Every appointment is important, every soul of priceless worth.

"When my heart is overwhelmed, and I cannot hear your voice, I'll hold on to what is true, though I cannot see...staying desperate for you God, staying humbled at your feet, I will lift these hands in faith, I will believe."


Lord, this is often how I feel. I feel overwhelmed. I feel like I can't hear you, like I can't see - but this is where I must hold to what is true - your Word is true God, it will surely come to pass. Lord, I want to stay desperate for you. I want my eyes locked on you, my heart holding fast to your truth, your word. This is where I choose to set my heart Lord.

I don't like feeling desperate, yet I want to be desperate for you. I don't like the discomfort that thirst brings, but I want to be thirsty for you. Lord, never let me get so callused, so numb that I no longer long nor feeling longing for you. Here is where I find a difference between comfort and peace. Comfort is easy-going, relaxed and comfortable. I do not wish for comfort. Peace however is being able to feel steady and secure, or at least to know that I am even when the storm is at its worst. Peace happens even in the midst of chaos. Comfort will flee in the presence of pain, yet it is peace that braves the wind and waves.

Though thirst and desperation are uncomfortable, the God of peace I seek with a thirsty spirit and a desperate heart. Lord, I hold tightly to your word. I know your promises are good and that you are faithful. I am desperate for you. This is the honest cry of my heart. I want You God, even if it means discomfort. I choose your Word, your promises, holding on even when comfort calls to let go. My trust is in you. Thank you Lord for all your promises.
Your face alone will I seek.

"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, 'Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.' Then give me a grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long."
- A. W. Tozer