The Beauty of Simplicity

We were gathered around the table eating breakfast one day this week, discussing our dreams from the night and Sydaleigh said...

"Guess what I dreamed last night!"

"What?! Tell me all about it," I replied.

"I dreamed that I died and went to Heaven. And I saw Jesus there. And He started walking and I followed Him. Because I love Him."

*deep sigh, silent tears*

So simple.

I followed Him. Because I love Him.

That's it.

That's.it.

The simplicity of it.

We try to complicate it all. This whole God thing. Yes, God Himself is more complex than I can comprehend. But, us and God? No....I think that part is more simple.

"I followed Him. Because I love Him."

We try to add in all this extra stuff. We tell ourselves we don't know what God wants us to do, where to go. We ponder big questions like, "what is God's will for me?" We pray big words. We do things in hopes to garner His love. We make it really hard.

But maybe it's easier than all of that.

Maybe, just maybe....He wants us to simply follow Him. Because we love Him.

The love part comes first. We can't follow Him until we love Him. But once we do....wherever He goes. We go. Because we love Him.

If He goes to the slums. We follow Him.
If He goes to the sick. We follow Him.
If He goes to the lonely. We follow Him.
If He goes to church. We follow Him.
If He goes to the orphanage. We follow Him.
If He goes to the abused. We follow Him.
If He goes to the depleted, ravaged, torn, and forgotten. We follow Him.

It's that simple. 

Where You go. I go.
When You jump. I jump.
Where You lead. I follow.

The end.
He leads. We follow.

Why can't it be that simple?
Because it is...that simple.

But we make it so unnecessarily hard.

We make it hard when we don't like where He's going. It gets complicated because we hesitate....and lose sight of God in front of us. And we stand there, unsure, giving a foothold to doubt, fear, and insecurities. We make it hard when we look at our circumstances. When we take our eyes off Him.We flounder. Stumble. Sometimes we down right turn around.

Life is chaotic.

But me and God. Not suppose to be.

If only it could be.
If only life wasn't so disheveled.
If only it could be as easy as God designed it to be.
If only it wasn't so hard. For me. To follow Him that easily.
If only I could get back to Sydaleigh's child like simplicity to God.
Because I complicate things.

I was praying this afternoon and said something along the lines of, "please stay close to me, hold my hand through all of this and never let go, " and I felt God say in that moment,


"I'm not the one that lets go."

Ouch.

God's word says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." God promises that He will never leave me.

I'm the one that leaves Him.
I'm the one that drops His hand.
I'm the one that shifts my eyes.
I'm the one that turns around.

Not God.

But even then. In all my drama. He's there.
When I pull away. He's waiting for me to come back.
When I don't like where He's leading. He encourages me still.
When I hesitate. He persists.
When I live in fear. He stands to provide peace.
When I walk the line of defeat. He cheers me on to worship.

When, when when....I have a million "whens"...and with each one God is faithful. He stands by my side through it all. Patient. Teaching. Guiding. Loving. Present. Leading.

God leads us to a multitude of places.

But lately the place I feel Him lead me most is just straight back to Him. Back to who He is. Back to the simplicity of "it" all. When I look up and find myself in some freaky deserted fog inhabited  Phantom of the Opera like sewer, and I realize I went down instead of up, and I'm totally lost, and trying to navigate the murky waters alone....God's there to direct me back. To guide me out of the creepy. And lead me back to Him. Just Him. And because I love Him He encourages me to follow Him where He leads.  

I followed Him. Because I love Him.

I love the beauty of simplicity.