Skip to main content

When words run out...

It doesn't matter what the situation, I always have something to say. It’s my thing - a security blanket of sorts.

Even when I force myself to hold my tongue, I have already formulated a thought or an opinion on the topic of the conversation that I'm in. When I'm in a new or uncomfortable situation, I talk double time – prattling on about things that don’t matter at all. When I fight with my husband, I'm quick on my feet with plenty of angles to talk from. When I'm excited, nervous or simply content I always have something to say about it. (It probably gets annoying to those around me.)

Lately however, there is nothing. Something is stirring in my heart, but I can’t put a word to it.

It’s terrifying.
And it’s amazing.

It’s so much easier to rely on myself than to let go and trust what God is doing.

The thing about God is that He is in complete control (which scares me to bits); but, at the same time, He is completely good (which makes it so natural to trust Him).

This morning, two of the passages that I read spoke to me.

“But, they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:30-31)
And

“Though you soar aloft like the eagle; though your nest is among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.” (Obadiah 1:4)

It is God who raises us up to soar like eagles and it is God who brings us down when we are soaring. He holds every moment, every high, every low and every breath that we are to have in his hand; which, if he were not perfectly Good, would be terrifying. It still is a little, simply because it is so far beyond understanding.  (Every good thing that we've known hasn't been purely good, so God’s goodness is beyond our human comprehension.)

And so, here I sit- speechless – comforted by the power of God; able to utter nothing more than, “heal me”. I don’t know what I need, but the Holy Spirit does. I can only cry and trust that He knows what it is that my heart is crying. I am reminded of yet another passage that is also a promise:

“Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)


The God who is great enough to build up and tear down, the God who is purely and perfectly good, sees and hears the words that we can’t form and meets the needs that we can’t put words to. Isn't that - isn't he - amazing!? 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

It's not all about me.

Have you ever had an idea - a brilliant, creative or thoughtful idea that seemed both perfect and timely? Have you ever told that idea to one other person before you had the chance to act on it and the next thing you know it's in motion, but not in your name? There you stand on the sidelines, watching as everyone celebrates your idea and as that one person you shared it with seems to have forgotten where it originated from. It's pretty miserable. I know. It happens to me often! Have you ever rolled out of bed in the morning with no desire to get your kids up, dressed and fed? Is the last thing that you want to do to wash another sink full of dishes that you didn't dirty or to drop everything to take your son to the toilet for the thirteenth time or to spend hours on another supper that will be gobbled up in minutes or to wrangle (what feels like) a million kids down the aisles of the grocery store? Do you have someone in your life who rubs you the wrong way? Maybe the...

The Unexpected.

  Have you experienced the shock of the unexpected? I have. In a second, in a phone call, and in the short words of a text, my stomach has been a stone within me. That moment when I’ve not known where my toddler is; those shaky words spoken over the miles, “It’s cancer”; that angry red discovered weeks into a pregnancy; that splash in the pool – each one has delivered the sickening feeling of shock. This past weekend we experienced one of these unexpected events which has proven to rattle me more than I would have anticipated. Here I’ve been, skipping along through spring, feeling the weight of fog lifted a little and WHAM! There it is. Right out of nowhere - the unexpected. First came the anger. Like David I find myself pleading, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?”. (Psalm 13) When is enough enough? Have I done something wrong? Have I not been obedient or trusting enough? How much adversity can we bear up under? But God is so good. He’s so kind to me. When I,...

Undivided hearts

Yesterday, our pastor preached an excellent sermon on 2 Chronicles 14-16. It was about having an undivided heart and finishing as well as you start out. One verse in particular has been running through my mind ever since - 2 Chronicles 16:9: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” Pastor Kim asked, “What is dividing your heart? Your attention?” Wow! About a million things. But seriously, there truly are a myriad of things running through my mind at any given moment. Even as he preached I had to use a great amount of self-control not to dwell on how smoothly the song service had gone, the fact that Aiden was likely driving his teacher crazy somewhere in the church, the possibility of Josh shooting another deer while I was sitting here, the events that I had planned for the week and how great so-and-so’s scarf was. Sad, right? And that’s just the little stuff. How many hours do I spend worrying? How o...