SUDDENLY FREE
“I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you,
you will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5
I’ve never been able to stay STILL. I can’t even watch a 30 minute TV sitcom without getting up and moving around. I have to either be crocheting or have something to do with my hands. Otherwise, I’m up at every commercial whether I have something to do or not.
My son inherited the same thing from me. He is always going and going. As a baby, my husband had to literally hold him tight in his arms to get him to go sleep at night.
God had to do the same thing with me. He had to take me in his arms and hold me tight. I was doing so many things. To name a few …
not only was I a pastor's wife,
homeschooling my daughter,
Children’s Ministry Director,
leading classes at the home school group,
Office Manager at the church,
and who knows what else.
Until one day in September, when God said “Be STILL” one last time and I could do nothing else but be STILL.
It was a normal Sunday. I had been dealing with Dis-embarquement Syndrome from a cruise earlier in the year; so, that afternoon I decided to lie down and rest before evening services.
As I went to lie down, I had a sharp pain in my back, I couldn’t finish lying down, nor could I raise myself to upright. My husband had to help me into the bed. If I moved the least bit, I had excruciating, contracting pains in my back.
Long story short, I spent the next month or two laying on my back in the bed. And a year and one half seeing doctors trying to find out what the problem was.
During those days of STILLNESS. God stripped all the things away that were getting my attention instead of Him. The church office, the children’s department, the home school group. Thankfully, my daughter was self-directed enough to keep her schooling on track. She also amazingly picked up the housekeeping and cooking.
While I lay there, STILL, God was finally able to begin to speak to me. That’s when I began to actually spend time in the Word. Over the next three years, I read the Bible through in three different versions.
God has allowed me to get back on my feet, but not back to doing all the things I wanted to do. I’m not sure that He will because when we discuss it, He asks me ...
“Can you guarantee that you won’t forget to GET STILL and hear my voice?”
So this pain is my “thorn in the flesh” to remind me about what is most important.
The message I tell people the most now is,
“If you are too busy to have a quiet time,
you are too busy.”
Don’t let this happen to you. Put God first and everything else will fall into place. (Matt 6:33)
These years have brought me so close to God. I’ve realized how far I was from Him and how much I was doing things in my own strength. And how much I had been missing.
If you have been "SUDDENLY FREED" from your “responsibilities”, I wonder if it is not God calling you to come, get STILL and fellowship with Him. Do you hear Him calling?
Read in Psalms & Proverbs every day ...
Psalm 2
Psalm 32
Psalm 62
Psalm 92
Psalm 122
Proverbs 2
What a powerful story. God loves us enough to do hard things in our lives to draw us to Himself. He found in you a responsive heart. Grace to you as you rest in Him.
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