Over the Memorial Day weekend, I was blessed to travel to my hometown in North Carolina with my sister, and my cousin (who is like my sister). There we were able to reconnect with some long time friends, family members, high school classmates, and hometown neighbors which really blessed me. It was so awesome to see so many people return home from New York, D.C., Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, and various parts of North Carolina to see each other. This reunion was not a family reunion nor a class reunion, but a reunion my brother and his longtime friends put together a few years back as a way of getting people from our hometown together to reconnect, fellowship, and have a joyful time and this is what we did. The smiles and tears when we'd see someone we had not seen in a while was indescribable.
This morning as I was preparing to hear from God, He brought this past weekend back to my remembrance. God ministered to me that this is what He desires from you and I. There are times when we get so caught up and overwhelmed with things going on in our lives, we fall away from spending time with God. Day after day we make the mental promise that we are going to commune with Him, but often times we get to the "next" day and realize, another day has gone by and we've not spent time with God. As I thought about this, I had to admit that I had begun to fall into this category because so much was going on, my mind and body was so tired, my emotions were so raw, all I wanted to do was relax my mind. Though I was still crying out to God to help me with all that was going on, I was so consumed with the issues, I'd fallen away from just "communing" with Him, enjoying Him, basking in His presence..asking for nothing, just giving Him honor, glory and praise.
On our drive back to Atlanta, we had an AWESOME time in the Lord. We were refreshed. While still facing challenges, our focus was more on God and how generous He is with His grace and His mercy. As each of us talked about various issues going on in our lives, our conversation was different from when we discussed them on the drive to North Carolina. Our hearts were not so heavy. Our attitudes were more positive. We were renewed and ready to go in and do battle against the enemy. We were experiencing a "REUNION" with God. This same feeling we had when were were at the "Homeboys Reunion" getting reacquainted with old friends, was now at a much deeper and spiritual level. We were reacquainting ourselves with God. We were glorifying Him and basking in His presence. We were no longer focusing on the "negative" in our situations, but focusing on God and what only He can do to change us as we endure the situations.
If any of you reading this e-mail has found yourself so overwhelmed with things going on in your life and you've fallen away from basking in the presence of God, I'd like to say to you........step back and find your way back to Him. Close your eyes and remember how far He's brought you. Remember when He showed up just in time to pull you out of something. Remember when He wiped your tears when you cried all night. Remember when He healed your broken heart. Remember when He made a way out of no way for you. Remember how He said He would never leave nor forsake you. Remember who He is and what He can do. Remember how much He really loves you. As you do this, you'll find yourself basking in His presence and having a wonderful "REUNION" with Him.
Today my prayer is that each of us will take some time to bask in the wonderful presence of our Lord and Savior. That we will remember what He's done for us and how much He loves us. that we will not remain focused on "what's challenging us" rather who is the one equipping us to endure the challenges.
Love to all of you.
Cheryl Jennings
sister in Christ