Carole has been after me to “tidy” up my office. My rule is “don’t touch or move anything” while I’m writing. I’m concerned the muse will get upset and leave or won’t be able to find his “spot.” I’ve been having back and neck problems which demanded I shift my writing desk and (Carole’s idea) make room for a bed in case an out-of-town relative stops in for the night. Well, we had moved a bed out years ago to make room for another desk. The third desk turned out to be just another flat surface to stack things.

I caved. I took 150 books to Goodwill and put two desks together and got rid of stuff so I would have a surface to work on. I uncovered stuff belonging to my Grandmother that was an archeological dig reaching into the 1890s. I found books I didn’t know I had that spoke to my moments—that was scary and while organizing my book cases, I found real treasures. And my grandmother’s doll got involved. Another story. I talk about that in my book It Is Today! (Will be published next month.)

I stood in front of the dusty books to re-read John Eldredge’s Waking the Dead. Then I found his audio CDs called The Four Streams. He writes about the Four Streams in Waking the Dead. A spiritual journey was on for me. The Four Streams are the way God restores us: Discipleship, Warfare, Counseling and Healing.

“Why are so many people struggling with depression and discouragement? They’ve lost heart. Why can’t we seem able to break free of our addictions? Because somewhere along the way in a moment of carelessness or desperation, we gave our hearts away, and now we can’t get them back.” (Waking the Dead, Thomas Nelson, 2003).

How do we get our hearts back?

“Intimacy with God is the purpose of our lives. It is why God created us. Not simply to believe in him, though that is a good beginning. Not only to obey him though that is a higher life still. God created us for intimate fellowship with himself….” (Walking With God, Page 12—Eldredge)

One of my favorite Bible passages is about Hagar. She was Sarah’s handmaiden and the mother of Ishmael. (Genesis 16) In what she thought was the end of life, God looks for her and finds her hiding. After that encounter:

“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said,’ I have now seen the One who sees me’” (Genesis 16:13).

Hear God ask you—“What’s going on in your heart? Why are you crying? You look troubled. I’ve got time—let’s talk.”

©2016 D. Dean Benton       Writer, Wonderer, Soul Tender