Stranded on my Desert Island

You guys, I am so dry right now. And I'm not just talking about the cracked skin on my elbows, although that probably deserves a blog post of its own. I'm dry in the kind of way that I feel like like I'm stranded on a desert island all alone and am just too exhausted to get myself back on the mainland. No matter how much I sleep at night, I wake up worn out. At this point, the bags under my eyes are permanent installations, ready for their own names.

Some might ask what the cause of the dryness is. I have wonderful family, some amazing friends, and a life filled with beautiful experiences. But what social media doesn't explain is the friend that has really let me down, or the person who left me high and dry, or the difficulties of planting a church where no one there is in your walk of life (I LOVE our church, so don't see this as a knock on them in any way).

To make a long story short, I could point my finger all day long at the different reasons for my exhaustion, but that would be futile. People are a gift from God, but by no means meant to be the true fulfillment of my soul. A church body is a blessing beyond measure, but it isn't the sole premise of my satisfaction in life.

If I'm being completely real and vulnerable with you all, there is one true reason for this dry spell in my life. Somewhere along the line, I've lost my excitement for the Gospel that saved me and looked to find satisfaction somewhere other than Jesus. If I were to wake up every day reminding myself of the saving grace that I have been given, I wouldn't need to give myself a Shia LaBeouf pep talk just to get out of bed (YouTube it). If my satisfaction were in Jesus alone, it wouldn't wreck my world when a friend fell through time and time again.

Friends, Jesus is the life boat that will get me off of my lonely island. If I would stop focusing on myself, I wouldn't have to muscle myself through the waters to make it back to the mainland. In fact, I would know that there is no way for me to muscle through - I would just lean completely into Him, trusting that He meant it when He said that He would supply ALL of my needs (see Phil. 4:19).

 And that's the beauty of the Gospel. God knew that we weren't meant to be alone - in fact, He knew that there was no way for us to even remotely make it on our own. We are flawed human beings and that is exactly why Jesus came to Earth to die and rise again. Jesus is the eternal promise that with Him, we will never be alone. Find joy in that promise today, sweet friend. Hold on to it tight.

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