#thebrokenway

@annvoskamp In the gap of time between dreams & fulfillment, God doesn't forget your prayers; *He tests your character.* Until the time comes for your dreams to be fulfilled-- your Lord comes & asks you to be fulfilled in Him. Until the times comes... keep coming to Him. #TheBrokenWay #TheWayOfAbundance https://www.instagram.com/p/CkkTRz1OfA2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

@annvoskamp You totally get permission to say you're sorta done taking it all. You're done taking the pressure, you're done taking the pounding surf, you're done taking the bills, taking the doctor appointments, taking the deadlines, taking the demands & the kids & all The Things — and if you're honest — and you'd never say it out loud, because you keep doing the heroic thing — but you'd love for someone to just take your hand, and make an island of space, and just slip the whole soul-flattening weight of everything right off of you. And guess what? *He does.* Today. is. your. day. You don't have to take it today, you don't have to shoulder it, you don't have to carry it: "Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders—*He will carry your load*"Ps55:22MSG So that's it, that's the only thing you've gotta do today, this is it: #TakeOneMoreStep — you categorically do NOT have to take it all — if you'll just #TakeOneMoreStep — and pile the whole thing, everything, all the troubles on God's shoulders. He's saying: 'Bring it to Me. I'll carry the whole thing. Pile it on.' — and you could have the exhale of it right now — you could get that island of relief & feel how grace is weightless... Honest: When you just can't take it anymore turn to Jesus and take it *just one step more.* #OneStepMore #TheBrokenWay #TheWayOfAbundance https://www.instagram.com/p/CkcYtjquFOA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

@annvoskamp I know it's hard to know how it's all going to work out, this season, that problem, these kids, that situation. What if you didn't need to know what was coming ahead of you, as much as needed to lean on Him who is beside you? "Let the one who walks in the dark who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord & rely on their God." Is. 50:10 We want clarity; God wants us to come closer. Come closer to God who's got it: Lean on His Love, Rely on His strength. Sometimes we want greater clarity when what we need is deeper trust. Life is always clearer when you press closer to Him & see your life through the sheer love of God. #1000Gifts #TheBrokenWay #ComeCloser https://www.instagram.com/p/CjvUmFoOTAA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

@annvoskamp Come close here-- It's going to be okay... That Mount Everest you're climbing today? God is greater. Those obstacles you're facing right now? God is greater. This storm you're weathering through? God is greater. Today, just hold on to these three words, your refrain for the climbing, the overcoming, the pressing through wind: God. is. Greater. #TheBrokenWay #1000Gifts https://www.instagram.com/p/CjSyh-OuXxf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

@annvoskamp ...at the beginning of a new week, and you can look up at the calendar today and exhale: It’s okay to feel bone tired — you have One who gives His bone and His body for you and beckoned: Come Rest. It’s okay to feel disillusioned — you have One who destroys cheap illusions of perfection and offers you His. It’s okay to feel done — you have One who listens to the last nail be driven in and proclaims all the hellish things finished. It’s okay to feel battered and bruised — you have One who storms your battles, takes back everything that needs a comeback, and proves His side won. It’s okay to not feel okay — because you have One — who made you His one. You have One who left the clamor of the 99, to find you, remind you, remake you, rename you, release you. You have One who is more ready to forgive what you’ve done, than you are to forget, One who is more ready to give you grace, than you are to give up, One who is more than ready to always stand with you, than you are to run. One who is a greater lover, rescuer, saviour, friend— than you have ever imagined Him to be even when your love for Him is most on fire. Today, these worries, this world, may leave you feeling a bit depressed — but you have a God who is obsessed with you. It’s beautiful how that goes: Whatever the story is today — it’s okay. Because we know the ending — and how it will be the beginning of the truest happily ever after. Whatever the story is today — it’s okay. Because the Writer of the story has written Himself into the hardest places of yours and is softening the edges of everything with redeeming grace. #TheWayOfAbundance #TheBrokenWay https://www.instagram.com/p/CjMqa9COCeV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

@annvoskamp Lord, the pace can get feverish, the speed of things can make us sick. The hurry makes us hurt. Still us. Slow us. It is safe to exhale. It is safe to trust. *You* are safe to trust. We are safe: You know the hairs on our head -- so we can leave our life in Your hands. We are safe: You love our loved ones beyond even death & into the grace of eternal life -- so we can leave our fears at the door. We are safe: You name us Beloved -- so we can leave all the lies at Your feet & find the relief of Your arms. In the stillness now.... we taste Your goodness now. Because when the world strives --- the wise still. It's the only way to feel our Father's embrace. . . #TheBrokenWay #TheWayOfAbundance #PrayingTogether #SundayStillness https://www.instagram.com/p/CiNJ4BfOqey/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

@annvoskamp This is the truth I’m learning in my weary bones right now: Growth is always and only a work of God. Love is a fruit of the Spirit — never the fruit of your own labors. There are no real leaders in the body of Christ — only actual yielders to the Person of Christ. And I whisper it to all my unspoken broken places in me: You aren’t the one who failed, the one who struggles, who missed out, you aren’t the one who got it all wrong, got filed on a shelf, got the pink slip, you aren’t the one left on the sidelines, left behind, left ashamed, you aren’t the one who isn’t enough, isn’t included, isn’t remembered, you aren’t the one who is XY or whatever terrible Z you whisper to yourself at 3am. Whatever has happened doesn’t define who you happen to be. The truest thing about you is that you are the one whom Jesus truly loves. So then what does that mean for us in the middle of all the things? That the way the faithful grow is that they choose to be wooed by God. But how? How do we move the idea into practice? Make it a practice to daily count all the ways He lavishly loves you not because counting blessings is a cliche practice, but because counting gifts is how you practice waking up to the love your whole life is longing for. #TheBrokenWay #TheWayOfAbundance #1000Gifts https://www.instagram.com/p/ChOiwMpOJ_O/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

@annvoskamp ... so, yeah, we may not know how tomorrow's going to go, but we could lean on the One who always goes before us & already knows. And, yeah, we may not have the foggiest idea how we're going to make it, but there's a Hand that reaches through the fog, takes ours & He makes a way — because that's His name. *He is The Way.* And, honest, though we may be downright weary of the heartbreaks, the headlines, the hard roads, God cups our faces: He doesn't demand us to carry the weight of understanding everything — He only asks we stand close to Him & let Him undertake everything. God never lays the weight on you to be amazing. He only invites you into the most profound choice in all the universe: Rest. Rest in His strength to do it, rest in His ways above ours, rest in Him who is with you, in you & is 100% for you. Leave all the amazing to Him. And His Amazing Grace finds us where we are right now and is taking us — even right now — where we've only dreamed. #TheBrokenWay #TheWayOfAbundance #WayMaker https://www.instagram.com/p/CgsUXA9OfS0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=