Discerning Disruption
Have you ever wondered if the disruptions, unsettled feelings, longings, restlessness in your soul or, to put it more plainly, your gut, could be textings from the Lord? I have.
Could these stirrings within simply be invitations from Him? Could it be that He wants so much for me to come that He continually is signaling me through these “tugs of divinity” to come – to come into His presence for His loving embrace and comfort, for the refreshing of my soul or for a chance to simply be with Him?
Have you ever wondered if the disruptions, unsettled feelings, longings, restlessness in your soul or, to put it more plainly, your gut, could be textings from the Lord? I have.
Could these stirrings within simply be invitations from Him? Could it be that He wants so much for me to come that He continually is signaling me through these “tugs of divinity” to come – to come into His presence for His loving embrace and comfort, for the refreshing of my soul or for a chance to simply be with Him?
Early yesterday morning I was struck by these words from the July 20 entry in Jesus Calling by Sarah Young…”the deepest yearnings of your heart are for intimacy with me. I know because I designed you to desire Me. I made you in My image, and I hid heaven in your heart. Your yearning for me is a form of homesickness; longing for your true home in heaven. “
Didn’t Saint Augustine write these same words many centuries ago? “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” And King David before him experienced the same thing documented in Psalm 42:1-2 “As a deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
Disruptions seem to be order of the day in the fast pace culture we live in. I thrive in an ordered agenda, the checking off of my list. I prefer that. I don’t like disruptions, or distracting interruptions, but my viewpoint is shifting. Just maybe, when I feel un-centered and stirred up, just maybe, my heavenly Father is signaling me that it is time to come, to come to Him. He is disrupting me to get my attention as in Larry Crabb’s illustration: when the red light on the dashboard of your car comes on you need to take heed.
How are the disruptions in your life working for you?
Gail Seidel
Gail Seidel served as Mentor Advisor for Spiritual Formation in the Department of Spiritual Formation and Leadership at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) and as an Adjunct Professor in the D Min in Spiritual Formation in the D Min Department at Dallas Theological Seminary. She has a BA in English from the University of Texas, a Masters in Christian Education from Dallas Seminary and a D Min in Spiritual Formation from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She is a contributor to the textbook, Foundations of Spiritual Formation, Kregel Academic. She served as co-director for Christian Women in Partnership Russia with Entrust, an international church leadership-training mission. She and her husband Andy live in Fredericksburg, Texas. They have 2 married children and 6 wonderful grandchildren--Kami, Kourtney, Katie, Mallory, Grayson, and Avery.
