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Michelle DeRusha

Every Day Faith. Faith Every Day.

November 27, 2019 By Michelle 7 Comments

Enter Into

Last weekend I read through all my journal entries from the past year (a task that was equal parts cringe-y and illuminating), and I was shocked to see I’d written in mid-May that I was ready to begin my next creative project (though I admitted I didn’t yet know what that “creative project” would be). It had felt, then, like I was on the cusp of something new. I was eager to plan, to begin putting steps in place toward execution. I was ready for the next thing.

It’s clear to me now, six months later: I wasn’t even close to ready.

Although I wrote a whole blog post about “right now being my next thing” – and those words were true – at the same time, the productive, striving and achievement-oriented part of me assumed quitting one thing would inevitably open the way to another creative opportunity. And so, for several months now, I have been impatiently asking, “What’s next, God?”

Last weekend when I read through my journal entries from the past year, I did so with a yellow highlighter in hand. I was looking for hints, trail markers pointing to where the path might be leading. I circled a couple of passages and notes, but in the end, I didn’t find what I was looking for. No clear arrows, no flashing neon signs.

What I saw instead as I read through days and weeks and months of musings was the slow, almost imperceptible work of God. I saw the tiny seeds of transformation that had been planted and tended in the ordinary and quiet. It seems stepping out of book writing has indeed created space for something else, but that something else is not another opportunity to do or create or produce, but rather, to enter into.

“Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you.” (Galatians 3:11-12, Msg.).

When I read Paul’s words recently, I realized how much I prefer “doing things for” over “entering into.” Doing things plucks my Type A, productive, achiever strings. I like a plan to execute, steps to tick off and, most importantly, something to show in the end for my efforts.

“Entering into,” on the other hand, while not entirely passive per se, is an act of relinquishment. When we enter into, we surrender control, releasing our desires, our ambitions, ourselves into what God is doing and has been doing all along.

It’s a little bit like the difference between vigorously swimming the crawl stroke upstream and strapping on an orange life vest, lying back with arms extended and toes pointed skyward and letting the current take you where it may.

Swimming the crawl stroke has its place, to be sure. Planning and accomplishing goals is part of healthy living. But I do think Paul is encouraging the Galatians (and us) to be patient with the process – or as philosopher and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin put it: to “trust in the slow work of God.”

“We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient to being on our way to something unknown, something new,” de Chardin acknowledged. “And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability – and that it may take a long time.”

These are hard words. These are words we might not easily accept and embrace. The intermediate stages of anything can be awkward and uncomfortable, and the middle always seems to last forever (remember middle school?). Most days, I am not down with floating in my orange life jacket. Most days, uncertainty is the worst, and instability is for the birds.

But I also know there is so much truth in de Chardin’s words.

It wasn’t obvious to me until I read back through a year’s worth of journal entries, but now I clearly see: this whole past year has been a practice of entering into what God is already doing – not only what he is doing in me, but also what he is doing in my place, in my communities, in the people I know and love and in those around me who are strangers.

I’m not sure when the “next thing” will present itself. Frankly, I’m not at all sure there is a “next thing.” Maybe it’s all one long walk through the intermediate stages. Maybe here, in the middle, is the actual sweet spot and entering into this is what we are called to do.

How to Have More Fun
I Contain Multitudes

Filed Under: transformation, True You Tagged With: Galatians, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, True You

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Martha J Orlando says

    November 27, 2019 at 6:32 am

    “Maybe it’s all one long walk through intermediate stages.”
    I think you’ve nailed our life journeys in this one statement, Michelle. If we are open to see/hear God working in our lives, there is always room for revelation and growth no matter where we find ourselves along the way.
    Happy Thanksgiving!

    Reply
  2. Linda Hoye says

    November 27, 2019 at 7:15 am

    “Entering into,” on the other hand, while not entirely passive per se, is an act of relinquishment. When we enter into, we surrender control, releasing our desires, our ambitions, ourselves into what God is doing and has been doing all along.” Thank you for this post and these thoughts. You’ve given me much to ponder. “Entering into” seems like exactly the right thing in this season.

    Reply
  3. Wilma C. Guzman says

    November 27, 2019 at 8:10 am

    I like this image of drifting along through this middle stage of life – not quite knowing where it will all lead, but trust that God will show us the way. Reviewing my own journal of my thoughts, activities and concerns – I know I am doing many little meaningful and enriching things. To some it may seem my life is aimless, but I am reaching out, responding to different situations and needs and touching lives around me.

    Reply
  4. Theresa Bodeker says

    November 27, 2019 at 8:17 am

    Maybe the middle is where it is happening. I love your images of swimming and floating on our back arms open. They so perfectly describe entering into.

    Reply
  5. Kevin Thorpe says

    November 27, 2019 at 9:48 am

    I believe Teilhard de Chardin also said he was a “pilgrim of the future”. I think your thoughts are a future outlook for the consciousness of humanity. May we all trust God and submit ourselves to His holy will which is love and mercy itself.

    Reply
  6. Bonnie Walker says

    November 27, 2019 at 12:25 pm

    For me ‘entering into’ is desiring more of Himself into my mind, heart, soul. Body, Soul, Spirit. Slowing and stilling my frantic movement is a grace to obtain. Then, He speaks in the stillness and silence, to accept each day as they come, whatever the task, or even the no task.

    Reply
  7. Jody Collins says

    November 27, 2019 at 1:56 pm

    “Frankly, I’m not at all sure there is a “next thing.” Maybe it’s all one long walk through the intermediate stages. Maybe here, in the middle, is the actual sweet spot and entering into this is what we are called to do.”
    I have a tendency as well to want to “get past it all….to the next thing.” But, yes Jesus, help us embrace t h i s right now.
    So well said, friend.

    Reply

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Living out faith in the everyday is no joke. If you’re anything like me, some days you feel full of confidence and hope, eager to proclaim God’s goodness and love to the world. Other days…not so much.

Let me say straight up: I wrestle with my faith. Most days I feel a little bit like Jacob, wrangling his blessing out of God. And most days I’m okay with that. I believe God made me a questioner and a wrestler for a reason, and I believe one of those reasons is so that I can connect more authentically with others.

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