Abide



So.  The conversation with my Father a couple of weeks ago went something like this:

Daughter

Me:  Yes Lord

I need you for a few days

Me:  OK

By yourself, quiet and without distraction

Me:  Yes Lord

It's not going to be easy but I need you to rest in me this weekend

Me:  OK

There are trials you are about to face and I need you well prepared

Me:  OK

I have a work I need to complete in you if you are willing and I need your full attention

Me:  OK

So when friends try to distract you, politely decline and focus on Me

Me:  They may not understand but I can do that.

It doesn't matter what you do.  It may feel right to praise, sleep, read.  Whatever you are lead to do, do that thing and do it without worries.  I need to still your heart and supply you with My Peace.

Me:  I am ready Lord.



See.  My Father already knew my desire for peace;  It was my hearts cry for weeks.  I hadn't asked for comfort or happiness or contentment, which, as a daughter I had the right to request.  But my soul requested and required PEACE.  So that is what I asked for.

And that conversation with my Father was the beginning of the most peace-filled weekend I've ever encountered.  From Thursday until Sunday I did not turn on the television, I did not study the news.  I did only what felt nourishing at that moment.  It was the first time I had been totally alone in the house in almost 10 years which could have felt really strange and somewhat scary.  But abiding in the Lord bore good fruit.  Abiding in the Lord centered me and gave me the strength He knew I would need to walk with my Dad his last earthly week.  I am not ashamed to say that had I not rested in His peace I believe my heart would have broken irreparably from all that I witnessed.  People die from broken hearts every day.  The phenomenon even has a name according to the Mayo Clinic: broken heart syndrome or takotsubo cardiomyopathy.   When a severely stressful event occurs, like the death of a loved one, the heart reacts negatively to the flood of stress hormones and changes into an ineffective blob instead of a tightly muscled pumping machine.  The condition typically reverses itself but people have died from bad news.  It is a humbling experience to trust Him completely knowing that whatever the future holds He is more than capable of holding you through that unknown future.  John 15:7 reminds us that if we abide in Him, and His words abide in us, we shall ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us.  And that dear reader was my experience to a T.  As it turned out both of my fathers granted my request in those last precious hours and my heart has held together.  I would wholeheartedly say (pun intended), trust Him and abide in Him for current pain, past hurts or whatever your case may be and experience a level of peace that is truly remarkable.  This testimony is for some reader who has felt unmoored.  Anchor your soul in the Lord and abide there for however long He asks you to and experience His peace.  Amen

Comments

  1. Glory to God in providing you the peace and serenity during your time of uncertainty and stress

    ReplyDelete

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