“Bask.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says,

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”

This verse takes on more meaning the older you get. The seasons go like this:

• We are born.

• We go through childhood, adolescence and teenage years.

• We go to college.

• We get a job.

• We get married.

• We buy a home.

• We raise a family.

• We marry off our kids.

• We enjoy our career making more and more money to attain more and more worth.

• Eventually we retire.

• We die.

Seasons come and seasons go. Some come with great joy. Others with great sorrow.

Is this all there is to this life? To go through these seasons? Repeat this cycle for every human?

Before I give you what I see the Father saying to us about these questions, can I tell you a quick story? I believe the answer is found in it.

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting on my porch and I decided I would ask God, “Father, what is my word for 2023?” Silence. I waited. Nothing. I waited some more. Still nothing. God is never in a hurry, and if you really want to hear His voice you need to be still. I sat there listening for about an hour. Then it came.

I heard Him say it in His normal, gentle voice. “Bask.” One simple word. There was no doubt it was the Father’s voice to me. Little did I know what would transpire 48 hours later.

I went inside. My heart wanted to know why God would give me this particular word? I did the normal definition search and this is what came up:

Made sense from a grammar standpoint. I’ve known what this word has meant for decades. So I asked God, “Father, why do you want me to know about ‘bask’ this year? His response to me was simple:

“My beloved Steve! I want you to bask in the warmth and radiance of My love

for you, and just be. Forget doing. Just…BE with Me.”

My first thought? “I know how to do that!” For the past 7 years God has taken me through another season learning to live whole-heartedly and not as a “human doing.” I felt peace about what 2023 would look like “basking” in the love of the Father.

That was Saturday.

Monday morning I woke up with a panic attack like I’ve never faced before. I have woken up with anxiety, but usually after my morning walk, and time surrendering all my worries and fear to Jesus, He gives me peace.

But this was different. After my normal morning Jesus-time, it was still there, only stronger. My mind couldn’t focus. My wife Julia wanted to go get some breakfast and I went with her. I had been to this place a number of times and yet I couldn’t get there. My mind was so distracted and my heartbeat was racing. I made wrong turns and went the opposite direction. I couldn’t figure out what was happening. I was also feeling completely insecure about everything, which isn’t like me.

Moments after we got home, I received a text from a friend and he shared this verse with me just as I pulled into the driveway.

“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!”

- Philippians 4:4 MSG

There it was again! The word “revel” stood out to me. As I processed my morning and what was happening with my panic attack, I realized something. Normally we run from feeling this way. We run to our idols, and whatever medicates and soothes us inside. I’ve done that many times. But this was good. Why?

I trusted the Father’s voice.

He and I have been down many roads like this in the past 7 years. I realized my heart is being rebuilt - or at least the paradigms of my 61 year-old mind. My heart wants to bask and be with God and be in His presence any time I want. My mind? My mind says, “Oh! I know how to DO that! Let’s create a box to check when you want to DO that. You can go sit at a lake, or on the porch and that’s how you DO that!”

Did you hear that? I told you I was good at doing. However, my heart wants to move to a deeper, more intimate “lifestyle” of basking, but my mind is panicked, stripping me of everything I know about this.

My heart senses what’s going on and the detachment from my mind and how this “used to work for me.” My heart desires to develop this space and make it a natural rhythm, not just a “once-a-week thing,” but any time during the day no matter where I am. This is why my mind was panicking and causing me to be insecure in everything.

“So what does all this have to do with me,” you ask?

Why are we here on this earth? Why all these seasons of life? What is the end game to all of this?

Life as a believer in Jesus Christ as the King of kings boils down to two simple things: We were created to be loved and to love others. Plain and simple. We bring kingdom every moment of every day when we bask in the Father’s love for us as beloved children and then love others as we love ourselves.

All those seasons Solomon wrote about in Ecclesiastes? When life gets crazy, overwhelming, sorrowful, meaningless and you simply have nothing left in the tank?

Bask.

Revel in the Father’s love for you. Enjoy being loved. Enjoy the simple things of life. Cease striving. Cease achieving. Cease performing. Develop your gifts God has given you, yes! But rather than do the work for God - maybe He really wants us to just be with him in what He is already doing.