When the dogs go out at 4:00 AM

There are days when revelation strikes you in ways you're able to hear it a little more clearly than others.

I don't know why that is; probably a list of complementary variables that just match and make it happen.

For me, at least some days, it's when I wake up in the middle of the night unexpectedly - like with the dogs and their desire to go out and do their business and sniff 1/2 the lawn 'cause it's been a minute.

Other days, it's after or around listening to music, or walking through a store, or any other host of times when a thought hits me out of the blue that seems to be "from God".

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This morning as the pups went out with great enthusiasm, it was as if God said, "Hey! Remember that book your friend gave you a while back and you started last week?  Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos?  You know the one that gave you a brain explosion and helped you "get" the periodic table for the first time in your life?  The one that helped you remember how big and crazy amazing the universe is?  Yeah that one."

And in my mind, I was like, "Yeah, I remember that."  And the next thought or idea that dropped into my mind was that all the massiveness of the universe is something God made and that he's actually bigger than all of it - like it exists smaller than he is and he had himself be born into it like one of us to connect with us and help us understand.

There are times when thoughts like that "drop in" and I'm not sure exactly what to do with them at the moment except "have them" and acknowledge that I've received something new or been reminded of something I'd forgotten from before. 

It's like when you're getting a new roof or some project done on your house and the store/supplier your contractor works with drops off a big load of supplies in your yard.  You know something is about to happen, maybe even something you asked for, and you're beginning to see the parts come together for it.

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Recently, walking through Walmart, I had another one of those moments where seeing some of the people strolling around in there doing their shopping, God dropped one of those thought loads into my head and heart - "You see those people?  I love them.  You know how you love your kids?  That's how I love them."

In the past, I'd been a little more like, "Okay God, I'll go talk to them or find some way to connect or interact with them and see if I can get them to church."  Like literally, that was a thought that would come into my head in response to revelations like that.  

But now, not so much. Occasionally, I might feel as if the Spirit is really guiding me to talk to someone and I'll just do that. Probably doesn't have anything to do with "church" or inviting them somewhere, but just acknowledging them as a person and maybe saying something encouraging.  

It's nice to know that others know you exist and acknowledge that.

I don't know any or all the plans God has and/or how he invites me "in" to partner with him or how he might guide my steps or thoughts.  And I'm okay with that now more than I used to be.  

Used to be the case I'd always see everything as circling back to "get them to church" or something like that.  Now it's just be there and if words comes, okay.  If not, that's okay too.

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So, I'm learning more and more to let that happen and interact with God differently.  Now there are times when it's like one of those meal delivery services boxes is left on your porch and you open it up and there are 3-5 meals worth of ingredients all packed into the box.  

Some cold, some not.  Some bagged up, others loose in the box. Vegetables, meats, unidentifiable things. Without any instructions or a list, none of it makes any specific sense, but you see a couple of pieces of paper and you know, "Ah, that's what will tell me more about what's in this box I'm opening."

But sometimes, it's even more random. 

Sometimes it's like getting something in the mail and there's only an address on the box and contents inside that may or may not be something you've seen before.  

Or sometimes it's like going through the junk drawer or some room in your place and you find at item an you're not at all sure of what it is or what it's for and then, one day, out of the blue, you're like, "Oh yeah, NOW I know what that thing is for! I'm glad I didn't just throw it away!"

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There's this idea in scripture of keeping in step with the Spirit of God - where you're learning to walk with, not just follow along or walk behind.  That's what some of life feels like now of days.

There's a lot more of going along with God's flow and letting things unpack in ways that I'd likely never have begun to entertain before since back then it all needed to end up "back at church" in some way.

There's this other idea in scripture where you can have a sense of whether or not you're keeping in step with the Spirit because if you are, certain things begin to just show up in your life like fruit on the vine.

Things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.  That kind of stuff just happens in and through you.

I'm finding that when I'm listening to and responding to these kinds of thoughts or nudges that I hear these days, that is the kind of stuff that happens more.

And it's not like it's some weird new stuff or directions to go build some weird kind of religious thing or start another church or something like that - it's usually things that help me recall other things I've learned about God and life in the past.

Things out of scripture, applications for things I've learned that I've never grasped or put to use before OR maybe wasn't ready to use yet.  I don't know.  And I'm okay with God just now stirring that pot in my life.

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Now of days, instead of expecting some things from God, there's definitely more of a sense of anticipation. I know that's a small difference to a lot of people, but it's huge for me in how free your day and your life feels.  

Instead of a lot of waiting around for "God to show up", now there's a little more freedom to keep going and trust that he'll show up when the time is right.

Trust and depend and don't spend a lot of time trying to figure things out as if in doing so you're gonna make things better when *you* get the signal or you're gonna get a good seat to watch what's about to unfold because you knew when the doors were gonna be open.

It's not about me, but I'm invited.

And so are you!

More to unpack on all this soon.  It's pretty interesting.

Grace and peace.

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