Remembering God

I don't know about you but there are times when my faith walk has been a little dry. I don't want it to be, but I have had times, sometimes seasons, where I felt spiritually dry and in those times I find myself losing my awe and wonder towards God. If you have been there, you know that not only can it be a frustrating time but also a time when your faith can really start to wane and become lukewarm. Your relationship with Christ becomes nothing more than going through the motions and if we are not careful, those dry seasons become more frequent, eventually leading to a disconnection from God. 

Image credit: armyofcompassion.com

I recently found myself in the early stages of one of the dry seasons. I had been doing so much travel for work (which I love, by the way) that I found myself giving up my time with God in the mornings so I could catch a couple of hours of extra sleep. The days were long and intense that by the time I got back to my hotel, all I wanted was a meal and a coffee and a non-fiction novel to zone out (preferably Christian romance but that's just me.) I started to feel restlessness stirring but in my tired state, I didn't connect the dots enough to know that I needed some time with God to refresh. It was mid trip in Orlando that I was introduced to an exercise during my work training that not only helped me reconnect, but it bought back my awe and wonder.


One morning we were given a sheet of paper that had the letter of each alphabet listed with three lines under it and we were asked to list down all the characteristics of God against the alphabetical letter. Who is God? How do we define His character? His heart? We were told we had three minutes and we had to write the characteristics of God and who He was to us as quickly as possible. Once we had written them down, we all stood for combined worship and during worship we were asked to call out the names and characteristics in alphabetical order. It was slow to start, but then everyone got into it:


Awesome.
Advocate.
Beautiful.
Beloved.
Counselor.
Courage.
Champion.
Deliverer.
Defender.
Everlasting.
Everything.
Freedom. 
First.
Guide. 
Heartbeat.


The list went on and on. As we stood there, about 25 of us in total, reading out the characteristics of God as we saw and felt them, tears streamed down my face. As I listened to people around me sharing how they saw God, and as I called out some of my own words, my heart beat wildly in my chest because I reminded of who He is. The words spoken out were a glimpse of the One who made me and loves me. I was reminded that He is everything and that He is more than enough, something I had unfortunately lost sight of for a little while because I had been so focused on myself. As we stood and fixed our eyes on the Cross, I was reminded that it is about Him and only Him. It reminded me that He is my beloved. My advocate. My freedom.


We are often encouraged to remember the good things that God has done, but how often do we stop and remember who God actually is? How often do we stop and just sit in awe and wonder at who He is, not what He has done? It reminded me of all the things that He was and how much He loved me how much He did, and continues to do for me. It reminded me that the heart of God is one that leans towards me and the character of God is one of such integrity and righteousness and faithfulness that He couldn't possibly let me down, no matter how much the enemy tried to convince me otherwise. Most importantly it reminded me to shift my focus back to where is should be; on Jesus. 

Since that day, my worship and my time with God has shifted and I am focusing more on Him. On the days when I am off to a slow start, I recite some of those words and remind myself that He who was Awesome and Faithful and Loving on that January morning in Orlando is still just as faithful an d awesome and loving. On the days when my heart is a little heavy and my mind is roaming, I make myself go back to the heart of worship and reflect on the awesomeness and wonder of God. So if you are struggling to get going today, can I encourage you to spend some time writing down all the characteristics of God and reading them out aloud to yourself, because we all need a little reminder sometimes.

Leila (Lays) Halawe is a Sydney based coffee loving nonfiction writer and blogger. She has published a short devotional, Love By Devotion, and shares her views on life and faith via her blog page Looking In. You can connect with her via Facebook at Leila Halawe Author and via Twitter at Leila Halawe.

DEVOTION: (In)Secure

The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness." Jeremiah 31: (NASB) 

I tend to do a lot of travel, both domestically and internationally for work. And I love it. Really love it because I get to see new places and meet new people and people are fascinating, aren’t they? I could sit and people watch for hours, which I often do, choosing to do majority of my writing in cafes because you know, coffee. And coffee is manna from heaven, just in liquid form, so how can you pass that up? But I digress, so let’s get back to the people.

On my various trips I’ve been able to observe people in their natural habitat and the one thing I encounter almost everywhere I go is insecurity. A lot of people are insecure, and I mean A LOT of people. It doesn’t matter their background or whether they are rich, poor, tall, short, an executive or a cleaner, insecurity has managed to hook its claws into so many people and put doubt into their hearts and minds. It’s sad. It’s also very familiar because for so long, that was me. Occasionally, it still is me.

Growing up, I wasn’t really good at any one thing. I didn’t do great at school, wasn’t good at sports, wasn’t creative and found that friends came and went. I was never super cool or someone that drew a crowd. Am I amusing? Yes. Quirky? Yes. All-round awesome chic? Most definitely. (My modesty and humility is mind blowing, I know) but I was never that girl that stood out in a crowd. Throw in the absence of a Prince Charming (I’m convinced he is stuck in a tree somewhere trying to rescue some injured bird because he is just amazing like that), and it all made me feel somewhat lacking.

But then, Jesus.

It took me a while to really grasp God’s love for me. I still struggle with it, and I probably always will, but I’ll take it. I’ll take it because it is where my insecurity quietens down. In His love, I find my worth and identity. Where society tells me that I need to look a certain way, His love tells me that I am beautiful as I am. Where the world tells me that I need to act in a certain way, or achieve wealth and prestige, His love tells me that I need just be still because I have inherited all the riches of the earth through Jesus. Where the world, and occasionally the church, tells me that I am incomplete until I’m married and have my own family, He tells me that His love is more than enough for me. And it is. His love is more than enough.

Do I still get insecure? Yes. I think we all do, really, because some voices are louder than others and at times those voices, the ones that try to convince us that we need to fit the mold, are really loud and they make it hard to hear His gentle whisper. But all we need to do is sit still at His feet, and wait. He will turn up. He always does and when He does, His love will wash away everything else. We just need be still, lean in and listen to His sweet, quiet voice.

We all wear different, and at times multiple, hats; mother father, sibling, spouse, writer, publisher, editor, cashier, carer, receptionist, and so on and so on. The list is endless and each hat comes with it's own demands; each hat brings with it an insecurity of some sort that starts to niggle it's way into our thoughts. And that is okay, let it come, but let it go just as quickly. Let it go and hold onto the truth, and that is that you are His Masterpiece and you are enough. You are His beloved and He smiles down from Heaven at you.

So here is my prayer for you, for me, for all of us; I pray that we feel God’s love in a new and profound way, a way that changes us from the inside out. I pray that His love just overflows into our heart and spirit that we can’t help be be overwhelmed. And I pray that as we receive His perfect love, we can’t help but go forth and pour it out onto a world that is hurting and broken.

Leila Halawe is a Sydney based coffee loving nonfiction writer and blogger. She has published a short devotional, Love By Devotion, shares her life via her blog page Looking In. You can connect with her via Facebook at Leila Halawe Author and via Twitter at Leila Halawe