Remain in Him

For some reason it is taking me a while to actually get my brain back into gear and get on with my life. I'm sure this is a normal response after all the stress we've been through the past year, but it feels weird. Now that I am free of constant medical appointments, free of constant fatigue, free of medications and inconvenient side effects, I still feel like I am stuck here. I can't quite seem to get my "To Do" list made, which has NEVER been a problem in my life before! 


I was thinking about this last week and asking God for help in this area. After He stopped laughing at my idea of making a "To Do" list, He spoke to my heart.  It was as if God said, “You’ve been looking at it all wrong. You are not Laura Shook, girl who had cancer. You are Laura Shook, disciple of God. God has used cancer to teach you and train you and make you more like Jesus, but it doesn’t define who you are. You are still a disciple of God."

Nothing has changed really. I'm still me. The "rules" are still the same. Keep walking with God. Keep looking to Him to direct me and guide me. 

Just today these thoughts were reinforced as I read the following Scriptures: 

"But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death." Psalm 141:8

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:11

"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation is intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. John 15:4-5


Spending time with God, remaining in Him, fixing my eyes on Him, is the single most important thing I can do today. It is the greatest need that I have; and if I will put that at the top of the list, everything else will fall into place. 


Thanks for reminding me, Lord, that this is about so much more than a girl who had cancer. It's about You and Your Kingdom. Please help me to remain in You.