When things are at a stand still

Have you ever had those days when things suddenly come to a screeching halt because of something else that's very important?

 

I had those kind of days last week.

 

My Sweetheart and me

My husband had a medical emergency. He suddenly had a high fever and was having chills one late afternoon that I had to drop everything I was doing to care for him. The following day after the onset of his fever, I thought (he also thought) that he was better. We even prepared for the worship that we were supposed to lead for Feast Ortigas. But while we were discussing about the exhortation and the songs, he suddenly had chills again... They were the kind of chills that moved me to bring him to the emergency room of a hospital. I was already afraid that he contacted dengue or malaria.

 

He was confined for a few days.

 

Good thing that the diagnosis was that his fever was due to a viral infection. I felt relieved.

 

But the many things I needed to do remained UNDONE, UNFINISHED. They were at a STAND STILL. The materials for the Stress Management Workshop I needed to conduct (which I conducted yesterday) and my manuscript for my upcoming book on breastfeeding had to wait.

 

I could have chosen to bring my laptop with me while watching over him at the hospital. BUT I chose not to.

 

Deep inside I felt that God had a message for me. I felt that God was teaching or reminding me something through this situation.

 

So I chose to listen and meditate on whatever I felt God wanted me to learn during those days.

 

Here are some of my insights. Some of them I already knew. A few are new lessons.

 

1. When things are at a stand still, it doesn't mean that God is not moving things for us. We don't need to see all the time all that God is doing for us and in us.

 

2. God sometimes allows road blocks in our journeys to give us time to rest, listen to Him and think. I thank God for those days when I was able to rest and relax with my husband while he was confined in the hospital. I felt that his confinement was a blessing in disguise for we were forced to stop and rest.

 

3. When medical emergencies happen in our families, we are reminded that our family members are definitely more important than any other deadline or goal. That everything and everyone can take a back seat in the meantime because your loved one is far more important.

 

4. When things are at a stand still, God is teaching us not only to trust in Him but also to be dependent on Him. These are times when most of us feel helpless. But thanks be to God for those moments because we are reminded that we depend on Him. I praise and thank God that He always proves that He is faithful and oh so dependable.

 

5. When things are at a stand still, we are somehow forced to smell the roses and to focus on the present moment. We live in the now. I thank God for those days and even the day after my husband was discharged from the hospital. Again, I could have started working again on my materials and many other things that are waiting for me. BUT I chose to linger with my husband and just be present to him.

 

I have already conducted the Stress Management Workshop for one of my clients yesterday and I praise and thank God that it was successful. I know that if not for His grace, wisdom and help, I would not be able to lead and inspire the participants. The wonderful result of the workshop is another proof that God goes before me always. That He works things out for my good and for the good of my participants even while I was resting and caring for my husband. That when we trust Him to do for us what we cannot do, He gladly fills in the gaps.

 

Me and my participants posing with their one/two-word big lesson
from the Stress Management Workshop I conducted.

 

 

My husband and I were not able to lead the worship at The Feast in Ortigas that Sunday when he was rushed to the emergency room. BUT I was still able to lead people into worship yesterday through the workshop I conducted. I was hesitant at first to include a time of prayer and worship in the design. I'm glad I followed God's lead because I discovered a few minutes ago (when I read all the post program evaluation forms of the participants) that the worship/prayer time was the activity that many of the participants liked the most. Amazing!

 

My upcoming book? Well, the manuscript is still undone. I'm slowly but surely working on its completion. But I think there's a difference now in the state of my heart. I am more at peace. I am more at peace of the fact that I have not met my target deadline in completing my manuscript. I have learned to accept the fact that the launch date for my book is beyond my control. Since I've learned to recognize this, like my participants yesterday in the workshop I conducted, I am less stressed. I have chosen to entrust the result of my efforts to God. I have chosen to simply do my best and let God fill in the rest. Anyway, He told me that my obedience is more important to Him than the results of my efforts.

 

I think the most important lesson/insight I got from my husband's confinement is this: All the good that I'm doing and would like to do CAN WAIT. But caring for my husband and my kids CANNOT. Thus, I pray that I would be conscious and disciplined enough each day to not let my family WAIT for me to be available to serve them in favor of the other good things that I'm busy with because my primary service and ministry is to my family and in my own home. I know that the book that I'm working on would bless many babies and moms and their families. But working on this book project should not rob my own family and my own kids of my precious quality time.

 

The loves of my life next to God.

 

Oh how I love God more for teaching me this awesome lesson on family life! I thank the Lord for humbling me enough to acknowledge my mistakes and shortcomings. I thank Him for opening my eyes. I thank Him for gently and lovingly guiding me back on the right path to holiness.

 

How are things at your end? Are there some things that are at a stand still in your life? What do you think is God's message to you now? Feel free to share by leaving a comment. Would love to hear from you.