anti-wrinkle remedy

just the other day, i told my dear friend that i'm gonna age, wrinkle, and gray quicker as a church planter's wife.

 it's not a direct result of being a cp wife. 

i promise you that. 

for i find myself surrounded by the bravest, most flourishing church planter's wives on the planet.

it's how i let the wear and tear affect me.

 affect me physically as stress, unstable emotions, busy seasons, constant decision making, burdens, and pressures of the city crowd my mind and trickle down to the rest of me.

  

"if anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers..." [John 15.6]

withering. wrinkling. 

 lack of life.

lack of health.

lack of joy.

lack of purpose.

"and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned." [John 15.6b]

spiritual death.

 i'm done influencing.

 i'm done seasoning my world. 

i'm done making eternal impact. 

i'm done living abundantly. 

i'm done walking in the Spirit. 

the ads allure. 

neutrogena delivers.

olay protects.

burt's bees diminishes.

lancome lifts.

these products might help on the outside. 

until the inside receives nourishment, replenishment, hydration, 

soul-centering, realigning, the outside is masked. 

i must abide.

to abide is a discipline and an act of worship of surrendering control and letting the Spirit have His way in me. i'm simply the branch that bears fruit and requires pruning in and out of season.

i still apply the super cream at night.

i'm pulling that gray hair here and there. 

i'm still a woman who's gonna work to resist those wrinkles.

yet, the anti-wrinkle remedy is not found in a bottle.

"for when i kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. for day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength dried up as by the heat of summer. i acknowledged my sin to you, and i did not cover my iniquity; i said, "i will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found....You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance." [Psalm 32.3-7]

the anti-wrinkle remedy is confessing and abiding.