"Calm Down", Let's get personal

 Those of you who have been reading and re-reading these blog posts may have noticed that I had not posted anything new since January 2018, and even then, I wrote very little. So, it’s been a while but that doesn’t mean that I’ve not been communicating with God.  

I used to be hard on myself when I did not attend to my blog because I felt as though I was  giving you, my readers, a raw deal, so to speak. During this time of “nothing happening”, I gained a better understanding that this blog, Bethel at Balata, is not my blog, it is God’s blog. That means I must wait on Him and never presume to share what God has not placed on my heart to share. But seven years? I guess seven being the number of completion, something must be up. Right?

Those closest to me would know that since 2018 a great deal has happened in my life. Some were extremely difficult for me to comprehend. I must confess that because of those challenging times, fraught with bewilderment and grief my communication with God, though not broken, had waned.

Very often we think that we’ve learnt a lesson, only to realize that there are many levels within that lesson that we still have to get past.

Folks, this walk is not a straight path, there are hills and valleys, cliffs to rappel down, mounds to negotiate over, plateaus upon which we can rest a while, stony areas, some smooth spots, grass, dirt, muddy puddles, even caves we have to navigate through…it’s a virtual steeplechase.

Spirit told me to begin writing this blog in 2015, and since then, I’ve gone through periods where the downloading of information has been like an onslaught but there were times, certainly over the course of those seven years, when I experienced complete silence, not a word, not an idea, not even the remotest thought.

However, this last Monday evening, an urge to begin again came over me. Incidentally, the first post of 2018 was “Shall we begin again?” I sat at my desk with my laptop open, read that post and I knew I was being called once more to start posting afresh in 2025. Begin again, from the start, with God, and me, and you. I tweaked the old post slightly, using a photo of a lovely sunrise, sent to me by my friend Wain, and I began again, January seventh. Hmm, seven. Okay…

It was a gentle inaudible flutter deep inside me which I could not ignore. I responded.

Is this helping you in any way? I’m quite sure that it’s for somebody…I know that it is for me.

Like Apostle Paul, “I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” What I’m saying is, I haven’t figured anything out, not that I’ve tried to, and the lesson I was obviously in need of still eludes me, but I feel strongly that I have finally passed that test and I am moving forward, leaving what’s past in the past, not completely forgetting but not lingering there. When we linger, how will we ever move forward to what lies ahead of us?

Perhaps I needed to be less hard on God when I could not understand what He was doing or less hard on myself when I wasn’t accomplishing what I believe He was inspiring me to do. The truth is, there are just some things we will never understand, and frankly, we won’t always get it because the way God thinks and the way He works far surpasses the way we think and work. (See Isaiah 55:8-9)

Thankfully, God is never hard or harsh with us, for even His rebuffs are couched in love and compassion. Why then, can’t we show love and compassion to ourselves? We need to ease up a bit, relax, or as my son often says, “Calm down”.

Yes, calm down, take a breath and listen to what God is saying, even when He’s silent. God’s silence does not mean that He has thrown anything or anyone aside, on the contrary, God does His best work in us and for us in the stillness. What does the psalm say?

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 40:10)

When the silence descends, just be still and rest assured that the same I Am God that appeared to Moses is the same I Am God doing His thing.

When you just don’t get it, just be still and know that it is the same I Am God that is constantly working everything together in your life to achieve the best outcome.

Oftentimes it doesn’t seem that way, but we must believe…only believe. And if it takes seven years, well so be it.

 

Amen.

 

Shelley Johnson “Calm Down”…Let’s get personal © January 8, 2025