First Things First

Today’s blog features a post by @DaraMaclean. It’s timely— I needed to hear/read it and I asked her if I could share it here on the blog in case you needed to hear it too! 🙂 I mean, talk about speaking the truth in love!! See what she had to say below:

I think the road is meant to be lonely. I think looking for love and acceptance in any other source, bad and or ESPECIALLY GOOD (Spouse, Pastors, Leaders, Parents, Friends etc.) BUT NOT GOD, is meant to leave us discontent and broken. Why? Because, IT’S NOT ENOUGH. It never will be and in fact, it wasn’t created to be. Everything was created to leave us needing more, so we would ask ourselves, “why do I need more” and then, if we would actually stop looking to people and just lean in, God in all His goodness could use ALL THAT NEED to point us back to Himself, the one that made it for us to enjoy in the first place.

Every day is simply about the choice to respond to that drawing and get our deepest soul cravings met in Jesus. Hear me, I’m the biggest proponent of Godly community, asking for help, seeking counsel and having prayer warring friends that you cry with and learn from. BUT, it’s in the order of priority in which we value taking every need to Jesus FIRST and daily, is what I’m really talking about…Truthfully, if I would take things to Jesus first SO MUCH would get fixed, as in, my heart perspective would change, I would find supernatural peace and I would have WAY LESS need I’m calling about and WAY MORE opportunity to see others needs….

So, whatever seems to be working today as a substitute high, I’m sorry/not sorry to say, from personal experience, it will stop working at some point. However, it’s such a good thing that it does, because it gives you compassion to see those people/things we draw our value and comfort from, they are just as broken and in need as we are, so we can beautifully LET THEM OFF THE HOOK. The ONLY guarantee for personal happiness, real love and true acceptance, is the same thing Jesus offered the woman at the well all those years ago, who by the way, still represents all of us TODAY. Needy, desperate for the real thing and caught in a cycle of disappointment. Here’s the sweetest thing though, Jesus tells us EXACTLY how to FINALLY find rest and experience lasting wholeness and acceptance that is NOT DEPENDENT on people, things or our current circumstances changing. Thank God!!!

Here’s what the Bible says to us:

“Everyone who drinks of this water (any other substitute), WILL BE THIRSTY AGAIN, but, whoever drinks of the water that I give him, WILL NEVER THIRST AGAIN. The water that I give him will become in him a fresh bubbling spring of water within him, giving him eternal life.” (John 4:13-14) 

Whoa. Thank you, Father. I believe in that passage is the healing power for every broken, beat up soul to be restored… So, here’s how I’m living my best life now: I’m going to simply enjoy being a child of God because I need it. Not for what I do, or who/what I want to fix, but for ME. I’m going to continue to be SUPER NEEDY every day with Jesus, because He won’t judge me. In fact, HE LOVES IT, because it’s an opportunity for Him to pour out more of WHAT WORKS! Then, as that living water does its perfect work in me, my thirst will be quenched from my time with Jesus and FROM THAT PLACE of being filled to overflow in God’s presence, then, whoever I live with, pray for and come into contact with, will get to experience a life that is ALREADY SO FULL to overflowing, that it spills out the goodness of God on them. Lastly, I will no longer hold them responsible to “fill my cup”, so anything they choose to do for me will simply BE A BONUS and anything they choose not to do, might sting in the moment, but ultimately won’t matter. In the words of Todd White “I’m so free from me, that I’m free from you…” As I live this way, it’s so not perfect, but it’s the truest and happiest version of myself I’m discovering. I pray the same for you in every way. Love, -D

Learn more about Dara by following her on Instagram, @DaraMaclean.