Beauty in the Tension, Deep, Kristin Clouse, Pause with Jesus, Relationship with Jesus, Rest, Seek, Soul Care

Beauty in the Tension

Push….Pull….Push….Pull….

I hear the words in my head being called one after another. The whip is cracked, and again the words are called loudly demanding all respond to them. This is much of what life feels like right now. One side yelling push and moments later the other side yells in response pull. Who do we follow? Who do we respond to?

Tension is all around. Life seems to feel so overwhelming. Fear is on the rise. Uncertainty has found a home in the hearts of many. Life as we knew it is gone. A new life is here for us across our communities, our nation, and the world. However, this is not the life we are familiar with or for many want. A shaking has taken place across our planet, and much like someone who is dazed from walking through a natural disaster, we too are a dazed people. 

Today, I would like to encourage you to go deeper, to go beyond the “loud voices” of those around us. To look past the devastation of the shaking, our world has and is experiencing and to instead seek God. To pause, to close your eyes, and to listen for the still small voice of the Lord.

Take a moment; we don’t have to rush this….

Do you hear His voice? 

Let’s pause a moment longer as God is here to whisper into your ear today….

Now, let’s grab our bibles and dig into God’s Word as we read Psalms 27. I’ll wait right here for you while you read it…. 

There is just so much goodness in this chapter, right?! So many powerful things stood out, but for today I would like us to focus on two things from this chapter.

God is our strength. As David lists to us the many obstacles he is facing in his life, he also is reminding us to keep our focus on who God is. He shares about who God is and His greatness in comparison to the battles. Regardless of what we are facing, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Right now, what are the obstacles in your life? What are the things that feel overwhelming? 

Fear of the virus? 
Homeschooling your kids? 
Working from home?
Isolation?
Uncertainty of finances? 
Concerns of when will life get back to “normal?”

This week, let’s begin to create habits in the middle of a new normal being formed in life around us. For some, these are familiar. For others, they are brand new. For many, these are habits we have had, but our equilibrium has been off due to life circumstances changing. The first of these habits, we will focus on this week is declaring who God is. David started this Psalm, stating who God is, and this is what we need to do as well.

Seek God’s face. David’s heart cry was to seek God’s face and to be in God’s presence. Not in asking what God could do for him in the middle of his battle. His passion, his prayer, was to dwell in the house of the Lord for the rest of his life. 

Our second habit we will focus on this week is to spend time quieting the voices around us and seeking God’s face. Now, some may ask, what does that mean to seek God’s face? It means to seek God’s presence. To be with God without an agenda, just being in His presence. To carve time out of our daily schedules to pause, to listen, to seek, to wait, to rest with God. To rest, truly rest in God’s presence. Not rushing the time because of busy schedules, but instead being purposeful with our time to seek God’s face.

It also means we are pursuing to know God, His character, and all aspects of Him. This isn’t focusing on what God can do for us, although God tells us we need to ask Him for our needs. This is about going beyond that and discovering the many attributes and character aspects of God. 

As you spend time this week with these new habits, I would love to hear from you. What is God whispering to your soul while you are doing these? Comment below or go to my social media pages to comment.

Blessings,



P.S. If you have a friend who you believe needs to hear this message, please be sure to share it with them.