Sunday 8 July 2007

High Places


Just sitting in the airport waiting for a flight to France with my family. Its a hard life! I'm away for two weeks and I am going to rip the backside out of chilling out as I return to begin life as a Junior doctor (can you hear my palpitations?)

This is a time in my life where there are changes. Changes are good but scary! I feel a little unsettled but I am more aware than ever of the tangible presence of God. I can even feel it on my skin.
I'm anxious about the next year and I'm also a little confused as to where God is going to take me. I can't say that medicine has stolen my heart. Its not my deep gladness and I don't think that its my "calling" whatever that is! What I do know is that God is taking me on a journey into my inheritance.

Last year I took a year off medicine to do an internship with church. During that year I had so many clear pictures from God of the high places that he would take me. I dont mean high in terms of importance or recognition but rather a state of spirit and connection with why I am here.
This year have become a bit lost and bewildered about the words that God spoke to me. I started to think, "maybe it was just my imagination" All those times God was giving me dreams for the future, were they just my own dreams? were they unrealistic?

But God has spoken "Joy, you have seen reality"

God is more real than our own human reality. Sometimes a mist forms on the mountain where we once saw the high places clearly. This mist can be any form of earthly "reality"...exams, hurts, stress, bills, stuff.........
What we need to remind ourselves of though is that the world is fading away, there is no real substance.
In the daily prayer book I'm reading it describes this mist as an illusion.

What if we really grasped this.That what God says and his kingdom are more real than our own physical existence. It would and should transform our attitude towards life, our future and our faith.

God is on my case. He weaves things in at just the right time. The thing is that even though I am starting to work in a job that hasn't necessarily won my heart and although I know it will involve heart pounding moments, I need to remember the high places that God has shown me. I also need to bring those high places into my every day life. To see beyond the mist, not just looking forward to when the ship comes in. I can live in the high place on the wards of a hospital as much as on the platform of a church if not more so!

We need to keep walking in obedience until God intervenes. Then we don't need to worry about manufacturing our own destiny. God will lead us into beauty. He will set us down at exactly the right seat at the table. We wont need to look around at other people's position. I know that the place where I am appointed will be where I will find my deep gladness.
The dream of the high place is not about the geography..Africa, Outer Mongolia..
The dream isn't a job, a church, a ministry.

The dream is Jesus. To know him and to meet him every day in whatever I do. To be who he says I am. To be beautiful in him. To stand in my destiny.

TS Eliot defined a pilgrimage as

"The precise directions to somewhere often awkward to find and your not quite sure why you came or what it is that your looking for. If you find it, or it finds you, words cannot easily convey what has happened but it becomes part of the journey that continues"
Lets go on a pilgrimage to the high place. Lets bring it into our normality so that we can change the mist into the reality of Jesus.
I'm aware how deep this may sound. Hey I was up at 430am so I'm allowed to ramble. I'm off to find my family and hit France for some more sunshine. Factor 25 all the way this time...keep the wrinkles at bay!

6 comments:

  1. i did not know you had a blog. i love it! have a great time in france. we need girl time when you return xx

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  2. I'm not quite sure what old Rodrigo is on about here, but he seems friendly...;) Annnyywayyy, Joy your blog is really fab. I'm in Canada at the mo and its 1.21am and everyone else is asleep and your last 3 posts have given me too much to think/pray about for me to think of sleeping right now! Thanks for your challenging honesty and hopefully we'll get a chance to hang out some more this year. Have fun in France! x

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  3. I love that other people get the mist ur speaking of. I have had my head turned so bad by my family teasing my 'crazy beliefs.' Made me stop and question what i believe and what they think i believe. Thank God this world is temporary.

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  4. Beautiful Joy...always proud...

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  5. Hey miss,
    Have got tempory acess to blog at the min so catching up on peoples (meth usually blocks them). You really have a lot of powerful stuff to say, you're amazing....was chatting to a girl here in meth the other day who was on your team at streat reach and she said to me...."Joy is just one of those beautiful people, there's just something really special about her"....she's right you know....I don't think we affrim each other as often as we should. I love you and think the world of you - hope you know that! Your mate, bill xxx

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  6. Interesting to know.

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