Frenzy Friday

God has a sense of humor. As I have been meditating on the word abide this week, my schedule has been packed and this week has actually been one of the busiest I have had in a while. Not only has my calendar been packed with extra stuff but the little stuff has been more than normal too. My oldest has been home all week which is wonderful but throws off the schedule a bit. My youngest is getting ready to celebrate a big birthday. My middle one has had lots of fun stuff going on at college this week and I have tried to have time to listen to the reports when they come. The weather changed quickly which always means that the girls inevitably will not be able to find that perfect sweat shirt or pair of boots that got put up when warm weather came. We had wedding plan meetings and made some big decisions. All the little things this week added up.


In the midst of my family stuff, this week brought about some really heavy prayer requests. My heart has been stretched trying to understand some of the sadness and brokenness and heartache. It is really hard sometimes, isn't it? To take into our human minds the hurts of this world. To try and make sense of the tragedy and the darkness. To celebrate the good as the bad seems so heightened around us. It just wears you out sometimes.


This morning, as I sat in my chair and realized how tired I was physically, it dawned on me that my soul was at rest. My heart was heavy but my soul was at peace. My flesh had been in a frenzy all week but somehow in the midst of it all I actually felt calm. I was just sitting there wrapped up my blanket looking out the window with no real thoughts. And that is when I realized that I was abiding.


All week long I had read scripture and stories and looked up quotes on abiding. My mind was set on things above. I had saturated myself in God's Word. Not for hours. In fact, a few days this week my quiet time lasted about 10 minutes. It was all the time I had. But in those few quiet minutes this week, I intentionally focused on God. On what it meant to abide. To be still. To know.


In His faithfulness, He revealed to me the answer. It has absolutely nothing to do with how hard I work. With how much I do. With all the people I help or pray with or talk to. It is not about my children or my husband. It is not about the good things I am doing or the heavy things that surround me. It is not about the voices trying to get my attention or the emotions that come from being hormonal. It doesn't matter if I am sick or if I have worked out 5 times this week. What matters is that my heart and my mind and my spirit were stayed on Him.


So as I begin another busy weekend full of celebration and family and friends and fun, I am at Peace. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring or how busy next week might be, but I know that this week God met me at my point of need. He was faithful to teach me and comfort me. Even though my body was in a frenzy at times and there were things pulling for my attention, my heart was kneeling. My mind was saturated with Truth. My spirit was agreeing with His. I was abiding.

Do not be anxious about anything, 

but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, 

present your requests to God. 

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:6-7