God calls us to run away to Him, not from Him. He asks us to not fix our gaze on other people’s lives and compare them to our own but to look to Him for the source of our worthy life. He asks us to find our rest in Him. He is our resting place. When I am exhausted, the temptation is to turn from God, thinking that He requires more from me than I have to give. I may believe I need to muster some passion from a dry well and focus on improving my performance. I may think I need to pull myself up by my bootstraps when I’m too tired to put my shoes on. I am wrong.

We are called to be honest and to bring God our authentic selves. He asks us to come before Him in the state we find ourselves in. Look at David. The Psalms are filled with his passion. He comes before God when he is desperate and when he is rejoicing, when he is overcome and distraught, and when he is exultant and victorious. We are meant to do the same.

In every moment, God does not ask us to share life with Him as anyone other than the person we are. We are not meant to be anyone else. We are to come to Him with child-like trust that He will not turn His face away. He invites us to tend our hearts in His loving gaze. His arms are open wide. He is the greener grass in which we will find solace, soothing, refuge, and joy.

As we choose to draw near to Him, to rest in the safety of His gaze, the redemptive work of God gains ground. Joy begins to bubble up, and the kingdom of God advances in our lives, inevitably spilling over onto others’ lives as well.
Open your heart to it: to Him, to life, to vitality, to the power of God moving within and through you. Ask God to grow your capacity for joy. He can do it.

He is a good Father who knows how to give good gifts. Remember in Matthew 7:9–11 when Jesus asks, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

Ask away. Ask in faith, knowing that He is the Father we all wish we had.

Want more? Order your copy of Defiant Joy today.