Empty Nets, Full Nets, and Rest

There are days when my mind feels totally empty of words.

The night before the first session of the women's retreat in Greece, I felt a bit like the disciples who'd fished all night and come up short. 

Of course, I'd planned and prepped for each session, but when I went to bed that evening, it felt like this particular fishing hole had NOTTA (thing). 

What happened to everything I had studied?

All I could do was pray, try to get some sleep, and hope the morning brought a clearer, fuller mind. 

Morning came early.

I sat with my notes and the flood of words came.

Keeping with the analogy, Jesus now stood on the shores, and instructed me to throw my net onto the right side of the boat.

Like Peter, I wanted to say, "Lord, we've been fishing ALL NIGHT..." 

Then, Peter went ahead, shrugged his shoulders, and threw the net.

Of course, as the story goes, the net was so full, they could hardly pull it in to the shore.

That morning when I stood before the attendees, the net of words overflowed.

All I had to do was sift through them, put them in order, and speak what the Lord had given me. 

Why do I tell you this little story?

I'm back home after several weeks away.

Once again, the net is empty (& there's this blog I committed to write...).

There aren't any words.

So I'm reminded, there are times when the Lord fills the net, and there are times when He says to set the net to the side and just REST. 

That's where I am this morning.

Nothing really of great importance to share...except...

Only to remind myself, and in the reminding, share with you this truth.

Sometimes the most Holy action we can take is to simply be still!

Without stillness, we miss the Lord's invitation to intimacy with Him.

Without stillness, silence, and rest...we can miss out on KNOWING our Lord more deeply.

From time to time, we all need to step off the path of busy to just be attentive to the presence of God. 

There in His presence, He awakens us to Himself...

Fills our souls with peace...

...our minds with the words of His voice...

...and our feet with the next right steps. 

So, for now...this is where you'll find me; I'll simply be "SON-BATHING" in His presence. 

*****

As I bring this blog entry to a close, I'm reminded of this word of warning I read recently:

Let's be aware

We can linger

So long

in 

Rest

that it stops being 

Rest

at all

and

simply 

becomes

STAGNATION. 

*****

Truth is that as much as I need to sit a bit right now, I would hate it long-term.

In fact, I think I might stagnate.

It's fullness of joy to me to continue doing what the Lord has called me to do.

So...I'll rest a bit.

Receive from the Lord.

Return to the work. 

I love being useful to/for the Master.

There's a P.S. I should add here: 

Jesus has a propensity that leans toward filling things to the full and overflowing. 

In fact, He seems to get great joy in doing so!

I'm pretty sure that's just around the corner.