In the Lean

photo source: http://compellingparade.com/

I use to think leaning was just another way of saying you were skewed, damaged, or impaired.  Leaning only happened if you couldn't handle life on your own.  Like the leaning tower of Pisa, if you were constantly leaning there must have been some fundamental problem in your foundation, a weakness or design flaw.

Not true.

Leaning defined is to have a natural inclination or tendency toward someone or something. Leaning on friends and family, leaning on wise counsel, leaning into the presence of God and His Word.   I've realized that leaning doesn't mean I'm weak.  Leaning makes me stronger. 

When I lean I don't bear the burden of trying to hold myself upright against the winds of daily life.  Work, family, exercise, church, relationships - they all come at me full force each day.  I can struggle against the weight of them all, and in the process lose all the joy that these people and activities bless me with.  Or I can lean back and recline into Him who sustains me. 

All these things I can support, when He bears the weight of it all.

I love living in the lean.   In the lean I can press in, listen to his voice and rest in his presence.

All that I do is possible, only because I live in the lean.