Guide me River of Life

Wednesday Wanderings with Dr. Sherri is biweekly and a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.

Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome for this week.

Now that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the journey with Jesus.

PREPARATION: In our last Wandering with Dr. Sherri, we examined Being Lost in Darkness and Found in the Light of God. This week we will investigate being Guided through the darkness by the River of Life.  When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence. Prepare my heart to receive, and illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you.”

PROMISE: Psalm 30:5 Common English Bible 

Weeping may stay overnight, but by morning, joy!

When the darkness appears and the night draws near
And the day is past and gone
At the river I stand
Guide my feet, hold my hand
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

Thomas Dorsey, the author of this hymn, knew that when darkness appears and the night grows near and days have past and gone, God is near. In the midst of the dark night of the soul Dorsey leaned into the darkness, pleaded for God to guide His feet, and Hold his hand and sought the river of life to guide him home.

PARABLE:   Unexpected and debilitating grief can leave us in despair and try to convince us that nothing good can come from this place. I confess that I have believed this several times in my life, including recently.  I have struggled with an endless season of grief for over three years.   I have cried enough tears to form a river. I have cried out, “Lord, here I stand at the river.”  I have lost words and had nothing but utterances. Yet, the Holy Spirit interceded within those groans too deep for words. 

From the drought in my heart, the Holy Spirit guided me to the rivers of living water that flow within my soul. Yes, in the dark night of the soul, there is a transforming river of life within us. Darkness is never so dark that we are lost. God’s light will always find us and in the mourning shine His light and trade our spirit of heaviness for a garment of praise, and move us from a stumbling crawl to a stance as strong as a mountain. 

God did not remove the darkness but He did meet me in it. He chose to have me seek a glimpse of the SONshine. Over the last few months, God has been leading me to moments on my mat, stretching my mind, body, and soul past my comfort zone into the stretch zone of new possibilities. Some of these transforming moments were done in silence, solitude, and Holy Listening. Some were done in crises, clutter, and chaos.

Perhaps you are living through a dark night of the soul, have just come out of one, or are headed into one. No matter which is appropriate for you, in your times of darkness, God’s present to you is His Presence. To feel His Presence we may have to attune our ears in the chaos–through the chaos like a hunting hound who hears the silent whistle. We may have to turn our tear burning gaze to God. We may have to choose to be mindful that the Holy Spirit–in the darkness–will guide us to the River of Life whether in solace, clutter or chaos. Standing in our river of tears we can invite Him to lead us home to the safety of His arms.As we surrender, weeping may stay overnight but by morning joy will come.

PONDER and WANDER:  Can we find God in the darkness? Yes and the Holy Spirit will GUIDE us to the river of life.

Soul care training exercise:  Whatever is present in your life that is hindering the SON from shining, the Holy Spirit can GUIDE you through it. If you choose, when you are ready, invite the Holy Spirit to GUIDE you through these steps.

• First, Give room for Holy Listening.
• Next,  Unclutter your mind, body, and soul.
• Then, Invite God’s Presence
• Now, Do nothing but be with God.
• Finally, Engage your mind, body, and soul in the process.

Whether in silence, solace, or solitude or crisis, confusion, or chaos, we can find God in the darkness. As we follow the guidance of The Holy Spirit we will not walk in darkness because we have the light of life.

PRAYER: Father, you are light in the darkness. When I am experiencing a drought, you are the river of life that floods my soul. Keep me walking toward your light. In the promises of Jesus I pray,  Amen. 

PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to breathe in and let the work of your wandering fill you with His healing light.

Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.

Until next time, be Resonant.

The post Guide me River of Life appeared first on Resonant 7.

_{Image Attributions:
Weeping may stay: Bible Gateway Psalm 30:5 image
River of Life and Guide: photos by Tia Cifferno with text added}

BONUS REFLECTION: If you choose, take five minutes to do this bonus reflection and contemplate which direction the River of Life is taking you.