I had good intentions for today - I was NOT going to open the laptop and spend any time surfing the net. But I have woken to a stormy morning, cold, wet, windy and the thought of getting out of bed and doing something "useful" does not appeal. So, as per usual, I have brought the laptop, my breakfast and coffee back to bed. Molly has curled up next to me and Mingus is asleep on my fallen dressing gown. It's quiet and peaceful.
It's been a while since I last blogged. I think I have made this same statement several times in previous blogs. But for me to write, I need to be in the mood .... I haven't really been in the mood for much recently.
I have faced some "interesting" and difficult challenges recently. I seem to have been gifted with the ability to listen and support others and lately there have been many calls on my time. I can think of at least 6 situations where I have been needed in a supporting role over the last few months. I have had to learn to look after myself or else I would be in a crumpled mess on the floor. Taking care of yourself is not easy for someone with gifts of compassion and mercy. You always feel like you should be available when called on but to do so would seriously compromise your own mental health and wellbeing.
My instinct is to want to rescue those in pain; to make them feel better as soon as possible. God has given me the ability to accept people as they are. I feel their pain and understand their suffering and sometimes I just want to take them in my arms and hold them and cry with them. And to say the things they want to hear. I think there is a time when that is okay but I have been learning that I cannot rush in and take over. There is a fine line between supporting and rescuing and it is hard not to cross that line. I must use wisdom, and discernment if I am to be any use at all. And above all I must speak truth and life if there is to be any healing.
And therein lies the challenge. How do I do that? It’s so easy to rattle off some cliché or scripture of encouragement and say “let go and let God” or “God is the only answer” but what does it really mean? Am I just giving off a glib response and talking Christian jargon? If I wasn’t a Christian what answer would I give? And would it be helpful?
These thoughts have occupied my mind for weeks now. As I reflected on the issue, I began to understand that by drawing on my personal knowledge of God and remembering his promises and the fulfillment of those promises in my own life, God has given me a measure of faith. This still totters from time to time and I often grab burdens back instead of leaving them with him but my grasp on them is not as tight as it used to be.
And when I consider my personal journey – where I have come from and where I am today - my response that God is the answer is the only one I can offer. Jesus is my role model. I am to follow His example – sharing the love of the father and showing love, grace and mercy in a practical way. When I show in my own life by deed and testimony that God is my only answer I am giving a powerful message.
Well, this was a direction I did not intend to go when I started writing this morning. It was going to be a "warm and fuzzy" essay with many references to cats and dogs, etc - maybe that will happen next time :)
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