I sat in her office, still feeling a little awkward being there and opening up to someone who I have known for just a couple of months, and I tried not to be too aware of my body language. (Crossing your arms might seem like you don’t want to share….is that true for crossing your legs also? But looking too comfortable might seem like you’re trying too hard to seem open. How much direct eye contact is appropriate?…ugh…see what I mean?)
My counselor has been so helpful. I’ve often considered being a counselor, but had yet to actually visit one in their office. The move and the onslaught of loss seemed a good time to start. Facing new every single day has a way of shaking you up a bit. In a good way! And in a way that might require counseling.
“What else might the Lord be putting to death in order to bring new life?” she asked, pointedly.
We had been talking about the walks I have been taking and how they are good for me; I shared how the beautiful spring in Charlotte was not lining up with the winter in my heart. All the beauty and life and bright colors. I was still in winter— still dying to myself in some painful ways, so I found it hard to believe that it was time for spring to usher in “all things new.”
“What else might the Lord be putting to death in order to bring new life?”
Death of pride in order to make room for humility.
Death to familiar and expected in order to awaken a new reliance on His Word and His ways rather than my own.
Death to busyness in order for rest to find a place to grow.
Death to comforts so that an awareness of others’ discomforts might sprout in my heart.
Death to a critical spirit so that compassion could spread.
That’s a lot of death.
“indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.” (2 Corinthian 1:9)
So, what about you? Maybe there are some things in your life that God is putting to death in order to raise something better to life? It’s worth asking the question and letting God speak.
(And you didn’t even have to pay me for this little counseling session.)