called out.

I am in a small group with my lovely housemates- what up Brick House!!! We are led by the most wonderful Libby Ryder. Libby has shown me so much about living in trust and in grace these past 4 months or so. it’a amazing. i think i have learned so much of how we don’t have to have it all together. and we don’t need to fully get what it means to walk with Jesus- we aren’t supposed to and we’re not going to. that’s where grace is key. i think i have put Jesus in a box almost- and thought i knew what it meant to put my trust in him- but he keeps going deeper. through learning how much i dont trust recently, it’s actually making me trust so much more. the irony. i’m being called out of places of fear and trust in myself, to trust in the One who made me and understands me better than i understand myself. the one who formed me. the one who has a vision for me- and the one who knows and desires to heal me, to love me, and to make me whole. to be a daughter of the King. it’s a role and a title and an inheritance i am only beginning to skim the surface of understanding. 

In small group we studied 1 Peter 2, but i especially loved verses 9-12

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

There are so many things I could write about and have been thinking about since reading this passage… but i’ll just go into two.

I was caught by the part that we have been called out of darkness into light. called out. and as i was thinking, an analogy came to my mind. Libby has the most precious daughter- ava. she is probably 2 (i should really know that ha). but i thought about this- if ava were to accidentally get stuck in the closet, she would be stuck in the dark. and if she didnt know what to do- she would have to be called out. but in order for that to happen, libby would have to know where she is, that she didnt belong in the dark, and that there was something more for her- and that the light was good. Libby would be a loving mother and call ava out of the darkness. and to do that you not only have to know where she is, but have a vision for the place she is going- to have a vision for the next step- the light. 

I think that is so cool because it is how God works too- at least as my mind can think about it. God takes his role as Father- and he knows it all. He knows when we are in the dark, he knows the things we don’t understand- and he calls us out. but in order for him to do that- he has to be loving. and he has to know. and he has to have a vision for something to call us to. He has a vision for the purpose and plan He created- he has a vision for our lives. we aren’t created to sit in the dark. he has called us out- with His powerful voice, and His wisdom- into something greater. into His plan.

my housemate egan added something great- we also have to be willing to listen and willing to leave the dark. we have to be still and know. and listen for his voice, trusting that he is calling us to something greater.

after i shared that- libby had an awesome story. one day ava and her friend locked themselves in a room- and it was pitch black. the little boy was hysterical, and ava was just fine. she almost didn’t know it was dark- or to be scared of the dark. if they had not called her out- she would have been fine for a while. but it happens. and we are in the dark sometimes, not even knowing what is really happening. 

i am so thankful that Jesus has called me out. and is continuing to. it’s His grace. and amongst the warring of the soul Peter talks about, and even when we don’t always listen, or even when life gets crazy and we don’t understand anything he is doing- we know He is good. He is a Father. and if we are in Him, we are chosen.