My little office/prayer room. Couch, cozy blanket. Candles burning, filling the room with the smell of cinnamon. Bibles, books and journals spilled out onto the couch.
(All Sons and Daughters are singing Called Me Higher. Makes me close my eyes and sway to the sound.)
My bible is next to me, a worn but comfortable friend. I begin to randomly turn pages, feeling His breath rising up from the words. I breathe it in deep and my thoughts respond.
“And God said ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Profound power. This “Let there be” that is obeyed every time…it makes me crave Your voice over my life.
“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor” You don’t push down, You raise up. I want to be like You.
“…You are the ruler of all things. In Your hands are strength and power…” All things. All. Things. And the hands that hold me and mine and all things, they are strong, powerful hands.
(And now Jason Upton is singing You Are Holy and I have to stop.)
“This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like Me? Let him proclaim it.” The silence is deafening. You stand alone in Your God-ness. You came first, You will be last, with none in-between. I bow right here, in the silence of no other god.
“The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” Such a scandalous love, and You don’t hide it. It is overwhelming. Unearthly. Heavenly.
“Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” The invitation to rest. I’m so glad that You know that the world I live in continually calls me to “do more, go farther, be better”. You know the weight of the yoke I am prone to come under; the one that has “Not enough” written all over it. I love that You know. And You invite me to You. To rest. If I will just come.
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” Rich grace. Poured out, not measured. I am over my head deep in this grace. I want to live it, give it to others, let it be the lens that I look through. I don’t want to keep looking at the world through squinty, judging eyes behind the closed door of my life. I want to open them all wide. Teach me grace.
It’s 2:00 a.m. and I am finally tired.
(Fittingly, Jason Upton sang one final song…)
..to end my time of breathing in His breath, surrounded by the warmth of candles, Presence, and the scent of cinnamon. My heart is full, having discovered again that His heart is good.
Karla Jo Wasion 
This is not a blog that should be read just once. Thank you Karla for sharing your 2.00 a.m. experience of entering the presence of God. Thank you for the reminder that God loves us with a scandalous love, that should not exist in our reality, but does.Thank you for the reminder that God’s outstretched hand is reaching out to us constantly, without prejudice, the only condition being that we take His hand and accept His gift. Thank you.
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Thank you for reading and sharing and taking the time to comment. And for sharing in my 2:00 a.m. worship time!
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