Thoughts: Hannah's Blog

Of late, every morning, I sit at my rocking recliner and spend my quiet time with God. My chair faces the glass windows, the view outside is covered in greenery! There is a big black electrical wire that runs from one side to the other. As I spend some time there, I always notice a squirrel walking along the wire, crossing from the right to the left.

Occasionally there is a cuckoo calling in the background. Coo Coo. The rest is silence. No construction noises, no loud or honking vehicles on the road nearby. Just stillness and moments of peace before the chaos of the day starts.

But sometimes, the chaos starts in the mind even when all round is calm. Finding difficulty in staying still, to be quiet, to take the moment as it comes. To dwell in it and to enjoy it. Not just the worries of tomorrow crowding my mind, but the challenges of today keep knocking on my mind, pulling me away from the pages in front of me.

The endless list of things to do, the crazy planning and prioritising, what to do, what not to do, how am I ever going to do all this. Even as I hold my Bible in the hand, through which God promises that He would provide me the strength and grace I need for today and that I don’t have to face it all alone, that He is with me, walking alongside every step of the way.

They say the greatest distance to be travelled is from the head to the heart. How true is that! God is offering me peace, but I choose panic. I choose to ignore all the good things He is promising and instead concentrate on looking at the surrounding situation, the mountain in front of me and refuse to calm down, forgetting that I have God by my side who can move those mountains.

Being still when the storm around you rages on is not easy. But that is exactly what God invites us to do. To come to the eye of the storm where there is peace. Peace is not the absence of chaos but the presence of Christ. Even when things are going wrong around us, we can experience the peace that Christ offers, the kind of peace that surpasses all understanding.

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. Psalms 94: 19.

Was reminded of this verse recently which offers us his comfort amidst our anxious thoughts and consoles us. Different versions say it this way: When doubts filled my mind, when my cares within me are many, in the multitude of my thoughts within me… your comfort cheers me up, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer, your comfort delights my soul. In Tamil, it says your comfort refreshed my soul – same as Psalms 23:3 He restores my soul.

We are all in need of some level of restoration in our lives. All of us has lost something or the other and in the deepest part of our souls, we still mourn the loss. God’s word reaches the depths of our souls and changes us from the inside out. Fixing what is broken and restoring what was lost.

Whatever storm you are going through right now, things may not change immediately, you might have to walk this path how much ever longer it is required. Your mind may be full of thoughts and you might feel like you are being tossed and thrown about in the seas. Take heart, the same God who calmed the wind and the waves will calm the storms swirling in your mind too.

And so, I return to the pages in front of me, and let His Word do its work in me.