Voices

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

—John 10:10

Our week was full to bursting with family parties and gatherings with friends, preschool Christmas programs and coffee dates with out-of-town friends just here for the holidays. Our gifts were mostly purchased but mostly not wrapped, and our laundry situation, after a busy weekend, was dire.

When things are too crazy, the only voices I hear are the voices of fear and shame. I stop being able to hear the voice of God, the voice of rest, the voice of hope and healing and restoration, the voice that gives new life to dry old bones. And instead I hear that old song I’ve heard all my life: You’re not good enough. You’re not good enough.

But that voice is a lie. And it’s a terrible guide. When I listen to it, I burn the candle at both ends and try to light the middle while I’m at it. The voice of God invites us to full, whole living—to rest, to abundance, to enough. To say no. To say no more. To say I’m going to choose to live wholly and completely in the present, even though this ragged, run-down person I am right now is so far from perfect.