Be still

I'm sorry I haven't written anything in a long time. This time though, I do have a fairly good excuse. I had laser eye surgery over a month ago, so I wasn't allowed to overstimulate my eyes for the last bit of time with bright lights; this of course includes computers. Now what have I been doing during my recovery time? The truth is, not much. Especially for the first week, there were a lot of restrictions. Basically, I wasn't allowed to do anything I normally enjoy doing, including exercise, read books, use the computer, bake... I couldn't even go outside as the UV light was too dangerous for my sensitive eyes. Now I've always been a woman on the move. I'm always busy with things to do, places to be, people to see. So being forced to spend an entire week at home doing absolutely nothing was excruciating. So what did I end up doing you ask? A lot of cleaning! I have to admit, my room has never been cleaner. Of course, I also spent a lot of time listening to podcasts from various churches and I had a lot of time to pray. I prayed a lot for my friends, for my family, for the future, for faith and growth, and for changes. 2011 has not been an easy year. Life did not pan out the way I had hoped for. Many plans had fallen apart and many hopes have been dashed. Now I am at a period of my life where I am faced with even more decisions to make and more situations to come to term with. I guess this is all part of growing up. And frankly, I am a little scared. I'm scared of making mistakes, I'm scared of hurting people, and I'm scared of living in regret, and I'm scared of what the future holds.

But as I kneel on my bed in prayers, I was reminded over and over of the same verse:

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)

It is such a simple verse, yet, it is profound. A lot of times, we are like a hamster stuck on a wheel, we just keep on running, but we are going nowhere. We exert all these efforts trying to do all these things and trying to solve all these problems, but things often get worse, not better. Then we run faster and work harder trying to solve the issue, and we are stuck in a perpetual cycle of going no where. I am reminded that it's time to jump off the hamster wheel, it's time to be still before Him, it's time to just wait and see what happens. Sometimes, we just need to hit the pause button and let God do what God does. We need to relax and trust that He is God, not only that, He is a loving God who has our best interest at heart. Then whatever happens next happens, but no matter what, His name will be exalted!

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30