Alone With Nothing!

I’ve been going to my local coffee shop to write. I have a place at home but there have been instances when I can't use it. Why? My children seem to need all of my attention when I’m working.  All of it! You know how it is. I can loudly call their names and not get an answer. I can search the entire house when I’m needing them to do something. BUT, when I need to get something done all by myself,  suddenly they all appear.

So today I get an opportunity to actually sit and write out my thoughts.  I’m so excited. How often do I actually get this uninterrupted time of writing?

How cool am I? I have it all together. I have everything I need. 

Coffee? Check.

Computer? Check.

Books?  Check.

Colorful pens and highliters? Check

I am ready!

Wait.

One problem. 

I have no idea about what I’m writing.
I have nothing!
I mean NOTHING!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

See this only happens to me!  The time when I have the opportunity to actually get it all out, I can't.
Not anything.

So I’m sitting here. Watching. Wondering. Praying. Waiting.

Ugh!
Then it hit me.  Alone. Nothing.

 

I thought:

"Girl! You are alone and you have nothing!"

HA-LLE-LU-JAH!
 

I put my head in my hands and exhaled. I took advantage of this mental break.

I think that we are a society of people who have made chaos our comfort zone. We crave it. We have become so accustomed to it that we don't know what to do with peace. We question it, feel bad about it, and schedule it away. All the while, we complain about being overwhelmed and tired.

Where's the place that we are so desperately trying to go? What are we doing? When did distress become preferred and quiet become uncomfortable?

Sometimes nothing is ok.

Sit still. No words. Nothing to say. Not a list to create. Not a task to complete.

Wait. Not that you don't have anything to do. You do! I definitely do! It's that you don't have to complete it at this moment.

We have so many distractions. So many things thrown at us daily. So many songs. So many words, pictures, videos, and voices. So many ideas. Plans. Tasks. Checklists.

Sometimes we need a break. A time to exhale. A time to sit and listen to what the Lord has to say to us.

I’m away in a coffee shop. My children are home with their father. No one is calling me. I’m not responding to texts. I’m not wondering about next week. I’m not creating any checklists.

After my initial panic, I actually began to appreciate my quiet.

During this I hear the Lord telling me that He is enough and that with Him comes all I need.  I can relax and enjoy. He's telling me that it’s ok to sit still.  It's ok that I don’t have something to write that will blow someone’s mind. I don’t have to write the next bestseller. I don't have to have next week's plan ready to print and execute. I don't have to have it all together. I don't have to do anything.

It's okay.

Crazy huh?

When was the last time you sat still?
When was the last time you scheduled away your peace?

 What if the Lord is waiting for you to be still so that he can speak to you?

What if in the place of silence is your answer?

Blessings!

Copyright 2015 www.shundriariddick.com All rights reserved.

 

When Life Hurts

There is so much going on these days. When I turn on the TV, log on social media or listen to the radio, I can't escape it. People are hurting!

I have the privilege to listen to people who are hurting. It's an awesome responsibility and I am grateful. Emotional pain does not discriminate. I've come to an obvious conclusion that hurt has touched us all. It's rarely welcomed.  It's often a spouse, child, parent, family member or close friend who hurt us the deepest. Sometimes it's a result of our own mistakes or the mistakes of others. Failed relationships, rejection, mistrust, disappointment, and unmet expectations are a few of the many ways in which we experience emotional pain.

Regardless of the source of our pain, many of us just want relief.  We long for that person to say or do something that will resolve our restless heart.

We want to hear "I love you" or "I forgive you." We want someone to say "It's OK. I'm here and I'm not leaving." We long for security and acceptance.  We crave hope.

I have had my share of pain. It has turned calm days into raging storms. I, too, have longed for resolve and rest. In all of my tears and heartache I have learned that my place of security can't be in people. Of course God gives us people who love and support us. They comfort and pray for us. However, at some point I will let someone down and I will be disappointed by someone. My security has to be in the Lord!

I'm not an expert by any means. But I do know that sometimes relief comes through the presence and words of someone who loves and cares.

So...Here it is.

I love you

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 

I forgive you.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  I John 1:9

It's OK. I'm here and I'm not leaving.

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

"It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31:8

Security

"No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."   Romans 8:37-39

Acceptance

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." John 6:37

Hope

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." I Peter 5:10

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

This may all seem very simple. I understand that situations involve many variables that create extreme complexity. This post is not intended to minimize. Nor is it intended to disregard. It is intended to turn towards an all sufficient God who heals our pain.  It is undeniable that He is present. He cares. He listens. He answers. He is Love. He is our greatest Hope.


Blessings!

"...and after you have done everything to stand, Stand firm then,..." Ephesians 6:13b



copyright 2013 www.shundriariddick.com All rights Reserved

Hello?! Are you there?

Do you ever feel like God is ignoring you?

I remember growing up and hearing the song "Jesus is on the main line, tell him what you want!" I loved that song as a little girl. I remember daydreaming about picking up the phone and actually being able to talk to God. I would get so excited about having the privilege of God wanting to speak with me. One of my favorite lines in the song was "The line is never too busy, tell him what you want!"

Well I'm not a little girl anymore and although I have grown and understand that the whole song is not about a phone call but praying, it still doesn't dismiss the fact that sometimes it feels like when I call him it goes to voicemail. It feels as if he is either blocking my calls or he sees that it's me and pushes ignore!

Surely, I'm not the only one!  I am completely aware that my feelings are just that. Feelings. Without reason or intellect, feelings are purely chaotic and capable of ruining the best of relationships. So I know that he's not putting me on his "do not call" list. But it sure feels like something is NOT going on.

No answers.

No direction.

No "ah ha!" moments after the Sunday sermon or quiet time.

Nothing. Silence.

It's usually during these times when you hear others talk about all of the amazing things happening in their lives. They are sharing about how God is answering their prayers. You've heard the testimonies of how they were down to their absolute last and someone sends them a check that pays their bills and sends their children to college for free.  All 8 of them. Oh and the one about how they were without work and while they were in the grocery store they held the door for an older lady. She thanked them and mentioned that she happened to own a Fortune 500 company and hired them to a very lucrative position.

I know I'm exaggerating (and laughing) but it sure seems that way when you are hearing NOTHING!

I have and am in the midst of one of these seasons in my life. I have questions and situations before the Lord and I'm hearing *crickets.*  I have what I feel are urgent needs and am getting no response.

Too many times our tendency is to go negative and ask "why me?" We wonder if we have disappointed him or if he's angry with us.  Sometimes in our urgency we may attempt to manufacture his voice by convincing ourselves that what we want is what he wanted to happen anyway. "I feel it. It must be true!"

I don't have your answer. I don't even have mine but maybe he is speaking through the silence.

Maybe he's saying that he wants us to trust and believe in what he has already said. We have to go back to his word.

Maybe he's saying wait while he's working it out for us.

Maybe he's saying no because he has something better.

Maybe his reasons for not speaking to us are as mysterious as he is!

"Just as you'll never understand the mystery of life forming in a pregnant woman, So you'll never understand the mystery at work in all that God does." Ecclesiastes 11:5

Whether he answers to our approval or not, we can always rest in the fact that he is in control.

"Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10a

Or what if it is as simple as he IS speaking and WE have to be silent?

Blessings!


copyright 2013 www.shundriariddick.com All rights reserved.