When Words Fight The WORD. We…RE…HE

And God said, “Let there be…”
And there was.

And it was good.

A command to not eat and in less than ten verses…
Wordload.

Twice in the same sentence.

“Did God really say…”
“…you must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

Wordload formed a question raising doubts.
Then a distortion. 

Answered, with another distortion…
“…we must not eat or even touch…”

The Word.

Distorted by words.
Altered by adding words.

Obscured by our words.
“Good.”
“Pleasing.”
“Desirable.”

Before anyone took a bite from the apple.

After?
Words that label.

Blame.
Shame.
Pain.
Loss.

Words don’t just add weight.

They separate.

Us from who we were meant to be.
Us from The Creator.

Not because we are less.
Not because we are broken…

Because our words might be.

Distortion separated us from The Father in the Garden.
And it often prevents us from returning to The Author and Perfecter.

The one with a standing invitation.
“Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest…”

Disconnected from The Word…by words.

At a time we need a rest from words.

_____________________

Wordload invites burnout.
WORDload invites rest.

“I have to be more like…”
“What if…”
“They’re going to think…”

Workload is already hard.
The wordload we carry deciding what we do, how we do it, and who we do it with?

Burdensome.
Exhausting.
Anxiety inducing.

Because the one that asked “Did God really say…”
Asks us:

·       “But you didn’t…”

·       “But that’s not…”

·       “But remember…”

“But you’re not…”
When The Word says you are.

Instead of accepting the invitation.
We exchange it for more words.

Just like in the Garden.
“I have to…Then, I’ll be ‘good.’”
“If I just do…Then, I’ll be ‘promoted’”
“As long as I…Then, they’ll think I’m ‘good enough.’”

“If I just get better…”

Written by the deceiver.
Who says “Do more…”

When The Author says, “It’s finished…”
It’s no wonder we’re exhausted.

It’s no wonder the invitation is for rest.
Because that’s where we started.
___________________________

We moved to San Antonio just over a year ago.
I still get lost.

My GPS works overtime.

I roll my eyes and call myself “loser.”
“Failure.”

Head shake, and “When will I learn this.”
“Why do I keep getting lost.”

Pound the steering wheel, and “Seriously. Again?”

Then I noticed.
Google Maps never called me names.
Waze never labeled me.

No matter how many times I mess up.

It simply says…

“Re-calculating.”

No shame. No stigma. No silence.
No “I told you so,” when I arrive.

It’s a moment.
That two letters prevented from becoming…
Momentous.

An R and E.
Letters that permit a pause and add direction.

The removal of “You’re less.”
The rewrite with “You’re becoming.”

Wordload complicates.
WORDload simplifies.

Wordload written by others says:

“Do…”
“Don’t…”
“Be…”

When WORDload writes one sentence.
“Believe and abide.”

Not, “If you do this first…”
Never,  “But you have to…”

And every “What about…”

Gets re-calculated by the Redeemer.

_________________________

Adam?
Hid behind a bush.

Us?
Behind titles.
Performance.
Labels.
Names.

Different locations.
Still naked.

Still hiding.

Because of Wordload.

It says “I’m naked.”
The Truth says “You ate.”

My wife and I recently went to Japan a second time.
She had a goal.

She wanted to find a “cake in a can” vending machine in Tokyo.
A city of 38 million people.
847 square miles.
Twenty-three wards.

She thought she knew where it was.
I had a vague idea of where it was.
We were both close.

But wrong.

GPS put us right on top of it.
After we had circled within blocks…
For over an hour.

We thought we remembered it on the street.
It was in the basement of a mall.

Precision.

What the deceiver takes away.
What wordload removes.

What The Word asks for.
What The Word provides.

Nothing is hidden.
Neither are we.

____________________________________

Workload? Hard.
Wordload, the weight of the words, scripts, and labels we carry? Heavy.

The Word? Easy…light.

That’s not my words.
They’re from The Author Himself.

And He invites us to test The Word.

Wordload says pull yourself up.
The Author says kneel.

Wordload keeps us circling.
WORDload says “Be still.”

Wordload says rest after we become…
The Word says rest to become.

Wordload says we’re less.
WORDload says we’re loved.

Maybe the question is which words you will choose.
Maybe it’s which ones are already running.