Daily Delight

I found myself sitting in my therapist’s office feeling heavy and messy. In that moment I was in-between jobs, I had just left my dream job after realizing it was no longer my dream to carry. I had finally let go of a relationship that ended and I was learning how to love well in unhealthy relationships that require boundaries.  I was turning 25 and feeling hopelessly uncertain about every area of my life. Nothing felt stable, because all of the events around me were unstable. She looked at me gently, “I need you to hear this. You are not chaotic. You may feel like you are surrounded by chaos, but you are not chaotic.” 

In life there is a constant push and pull between surface and deep, chaos and control. This struggle can sometimes make us feel like a human tornado. It is there in this tension that we can still find our rhythms of grace in the middle of chaos and control. We may be standing on instability, but God will gently remind us, “You are not chaotic.” We are never too far gone to learn a new rhythm of grace. 

“Are you tired? Worn out? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me . . . watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:28-30)

We can learn the unforced rhythms of grace, no matter where we are. No matter what we’re feeling. No matter how far from "ok" we feel. Our circumstances do not limit our accessibility to walk with Him. 

Keep company with God even amid the chaos. He will loosen our white-knuckle, tight as can be grip on life and teach us to rest in His presence. I don’t know what you’ve walked through, or what you’ve currently laced up your boots to trudge through. But here’s what I do know: He wants you to know the chaos does not define you. He will use it to grow you. To show you the unforced rhythms of grace. When events on earth feel heavy and full of hopelessness, He will encourage us to move forward and teach us to live freely and lightly. 

He will guide us to release control over what we can’t dictate, and urge us to seize control of what we can. In the difficult work of learning to say yes and no, of releasing and seizing control, His promise and freedom of an unforced rhythm lives.

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Photo: @chrissyraem

About the Author

Amy grew up near the mouth of the Appalachian trail in a northeastern town in Georgia. She now lives as a writer and science nerd in our nation’s capital, navigating life as a 20-something obsessed with finding sanctuaries in nature on the edges of the urban hustle of D.C. 
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This new transition to D.C. has been a season of learning a posture of surrender and peaceful silence found with God even amid the noise of cultural expectations and standards. 

Amy is passionate about seeking justice, finding faith in all of life's details and championing young women to see and appreciate their divine value and worth. Amy loves stories, campfires, donuts and strong friendships, often the combination of all these elements equals her happy place.