Month: March 2015

Grace

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

Your grace, Lord, it washes over everything.

Your grace

revives

and reminds

and lifts

up.

Your grace finds me

wherever I am.

Your grace takes the things unsettled

and speaks peace over them.

Your grace takes a confined space

and creates a wide open expanse.

Your grace opens squeezed tight eyes

and awakens them with renewed perspective.

Your grace blankets darkness

and brings newness and light.

Your grace takes tears

and holds them lovingly in cupped hands.

 Your grace completely shatters condemnation.

Completely.

Your grace invites in

opens up

renews

energizes.

Your grace cost You so much….

and You give it freely.

Your grace means everything.

Multiply it

through me.

– Susie Stewart

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

– Acts 20:24 (NLT)

Photo taken by Susie Stewart

Inadequate

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

 

“We are all inadequate, Mama…”

 

The words sliced through me.

 

I paused my carrying on.

 

Of course.

We all are.

 

 

My college girl had called to talk

and the conversation had turned heavy.

I was struggling

and it was late

and emotions seemed to be spilling over unwanted.

 

I was struggling with a weight I shouldn’t have been carrying

listening to voices that spoke

of my lack of worth

lack of strength

lack of knowledge

lack of adequacy….

for being the person He called me to be

in ministry

in family

in life.

 

I poured out my heart to my daughter all grown.

She listened to it all

including the part where I said,

“I just feel so inadequate in this role sometimes….”

 

Then the words I didn’t expect.

 

“We are all inadequate, Mama….”

 

Crickets.

 

“It’s only through God that we can do any of this.”

 

I realized that I had been wallowing in a cess pool of emotion

about how I wasn’t measuring up.

I had been thinking

and processing

and assessing

 

my abilities

my personality

my mistakes

my

my

my

 

It wasn’t about me

and I had lost sight of that.

 

All throughout Scripture the Lord had shown me

how He works through the weak

the unlikely

the small

the unsure

the messed up

the perfectly inadequate human

who surrendered to His plans

 

and said YES

 

to the One who does the impossible

the miraculous

the detailed

the amazing

the over and above adequate!

 

And uses the inadequate.

 

Because that’s what He does.

 

He is God

and I am not

and as long as I surrender

and surrender again

and surrender again

to His remarkable Spirit leading me,

then His role in me

is more than adequate.

 

Sometimes things are reversed

and the child is the parent

and the parent is the child.

And sometimes wisdom comes from a young heart,

fresh and true.

 

I won’t soon forget these words of wisdom.

 

And I will speak them back to her

 

when the voices

that are not His

tell her she is inadequate.

– Susie Stewart

 

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Photos taken by Susie Stewart

All I Want

/ Susie Stewart / 2 Comments

Psalm 23

You brought it to me afresh this morning, Lord.

Your Word is alive, and breathing, and pulsing with light and voice and power.

How many times have I read this passage since I was young?

And the more I know You, Lord, the more precious these words become.

I allow these words to sit, and take root, and fill.

I allow them in deep, and I echo them back to You.

 

My Shepherd, You provide everything I need.  Only You.  May I not want for anything outside of what You desire to give, or outside of Your wise counsel.  I have contentment in You.

 

My Shepherd, You let me rest.  This world knows little of rest.  But in You I rest in green meadows, in my mind, in my heart.  That is where I find you, my God of restoration.

 

My Shepherd, You take my hand and lead me beside the peaceful streams.  The sound and motion are healing to my soul.  You have taken me there because I need it.

 

My Shepherd, You make me strong again when I succumb to weakness.  Just by You being there I feel strengthened for the next leg of the journey.  Your words bring energy.

 

My Shepherd, You guide me along the wise path.  Following Your guidance in doing the right thing brings honor to You, and that is what I want.  Help me not to wander.

 

My Shepherd, there are some very dark times, when I am low, when I am suffering, when death shadows over me.  I need not fear because You never leave my side.  I am comforted and strengthened by Your presence.  You breathe life and light into me.

 

My Shepherd, You carry a rod and a staff.  Even though they are used to guide and discipline me, I am comforted because I know You will keep me safe from consequences and pain.  You are seeking to protect me from having to deal with the aftermath of bad choices.

 

My Shepherd, You are bold and Your parental love for me does not let my enemies gloat over me.  You lift my head and You feed me the best of what You have in the company of those who would harm me.  I am not intimidated by them.

 

My Shepherd, You actually honor me with anointing oil.  I am humbled as You serve me with a gentle and humble heart.  You anoint, and intercede, and bless. A sacred understanding passes between us.

 

My Shepherd, my life and heart overflow with Your graciousness to me.  You never tire of blessing me.  It’s as if I’m holding a cup and You’ve forgotten to stop pouring into it, and all manner of glory flows over the sides and onto the path I am taking.

 

My Shepherd, I know You pursue me with Your goodness and Your love that never fails.  May I always feel the warmth of Your presence behind me, because my pace allows You to catch up with me.  There is not a day that goes by that You are not pursuing me.

 

My Shepherd, You are here with me on earth and You have prepared a place for me in Heaven.  You dwell inside of me here and I will dwell with you there, beautifully for always.

 

And You, My Shepherd, will have lead me on the path, and by way of the meadow, and beside the stream, into eternity.

 

My Shepherd, You are all I want.

– Susie Stewart

____________________________________________________

 

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to His name.
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for You are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.

(NLT)

You Are Here

/ Susie Stewart / 1 Comment

You are HERE.

 

Not over there

or over there

or even over there.

 

You are here.

 

And there is purpose in that.

 

God is looking at His map of the world

and He sees you

and you might think

that your “You Are Here” arrow is so small

and insignificant

that God couldn’t possibly notice

 

that you are here

 

Swallowed up by 7.1. billion people…

 

But He does.

 

He not only sees you,

He designed the map

He placed you on it

He created you

for this moment, this season, this place.

 

God has the aerial view

God has the on-the-ground view

God has the in-your-heart view

 

He sees with eyes ever open.

 

He sees you

He sees all of us.

 

And He is able to love each one.

Completely.

 

And He knows….

the suffering

the joy

the pain

the circumstances

 

He was the one that placed your “You Are Here” sticker on the map.

Lovingly

Deliberately

Creatively

For such a time as this.

 

And He longs for you to place a “You are Here” sticker

on your heart

for Him.

 

Because that’s where He belongs

and that’s what gives you purpose

on this great big map

in this great big universe

when a whole lot of things don’t make sense.

 

You are HERE.

Make it count.

– Susie Stewart

 

“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”  Esther 4:14 (NIV)

 

“This is the plan,
planned for the whole earth,
And this is the hand that will do it,
reaching into every nation.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies has planned it.
Who could ever cancel such plans?
His is the hand that’s reached out.
Who could brush it aside?”    Isaiah 14:26,27 (MSG)

In Between

/ Susie Stewart / Leave a comment

This place.

 

In between.

 

It is an anxious place

or it is a peaceful place.

 

It feels like a loss of control

or it feels like complete surrender.

 

It is marked by worry

or it is marked with trust.

 

Waiting

waiting

waiting

 

In between.

 

When you look back on those times

you should see

growth

learning

more depth

renewal of trust

more faith

 

But at times

you see

distrust

staying stuck

bitterness

anxiety

anger

 

In between

should be a good place to be

because that’s where

you are stretched

and you depend

and you look up

and you are satisfied

 

Because it’s not about your circumstances,

but about your relationship

with Jesus….

 

Who knows what waiting feels like

and knows what dependence feels like

and knows what

surrender

…..feels like.

– Susie Stewart