When the wind blows ...

It's been one of those days. Everything fell on top of me at once and I found myself having to bite my tongue several times, lest the Jo March in me flare up. A couple of posts I wrote some years back sum up well what I'm feeling and perhaps they will be of some encouragement. The pictures accompanied the original posts so I've kept them here.

November 7, 2008

When the wind blows

When the wind of my emotions blows, and threatens to develop into a fierce storm, help me to lean firmly upon your Word and toss my feelings aside. As that pang of rage rises, teach me to be still, to submit and then to release.

Direct me to your Word, especially in times such as these, so that I may obey you even during my trying season. Remind me that I am not as helpless as I might think, that I am not as helpless as I might like to think.

Help me to remember that it is always possible to obey you, even when my hormones rage, that there is no excuse for unleashed anger.

“Choices will continually be necessary and—let us not forget—possible. Obedience to God is always possible. It is a deadly error to fall into the notion that when feelings are extremely strong we can do nothing but act on them.”
                                                     – Elisabeth Elliot

“Oh the havoc that is wrought and the tragedy, the misery and the wretchedness that are to be found in the world simply because people do not know how to handle their own feelings!”                                    

                                                       – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Remind me that feelings are fallible; that, more often that not, our feelings lie to us, convincing of something that is not real – something that is not there.

But in all this, your Truth stands firm. Above all else, teach me how to come to you and be satisfied, particularly when I feel as though my needs are not being met in man. Remind me that man is not there to meet my needs, that ultimately that task belongs to you.

November 10, 2008

Times of anxiety

“Sit still my daughter, until thou knowest how the matter will fall” - Ruth 3:18a

It’s getting to that time again, and I can already feel myself starting to get restless and agitated. Funny looks are being misunderstood, innocent acts of carelessness are cutting deep and there is a general feeling of weariness and can’t-be-bothered with regards to what lies ahead. Last night, about to get into bed, I suddenly realised that I haven’t been particularly pro-active with regards to job-hunting and this set off a stomach-knotting inward panic.

The verse in Ruth is a great reminder that my all but giving myself a heart attack is of no value whatsoever. God has ordained my days. Certainly, I have a part to play, but rushing around and taking control does not guarantee fulfilment of the desires of my heart. Patient trust in God is the only way forward. I pray that I will remember to take this week slowly, concentrating only on the most important tasks. Satan has a way of using up my energy with little “botherations” that tend to multiply in significance during this season, and I must fight these distractions by focusing on that which is true.