I was at http://tarnya.wordpress.com/ but I feel like I want to start a new blog for a new season of my life.
At the moment I’m reading Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot
She starts the first section of the book with a poem:
Thou art the Lord who slept upon the pillow,
Thou art the Lord who soothed the furious sea,
What matter beating wind and tossing billow
If only we are in the boat with Thee?Hold us in quiet through the age-long minute
While Thou art silent, and the wind is shrill:
Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, art in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?
Amy Carmichael
Toward Jerusalem
“In 1931, Carmichael was badly injured in a fall, which left her bedridden much of the time until her death. She died in India in 1951 at the age of 83.”
That is 20 years in bed, in at times tremendous pain. I recommend A Chance to Die if you want to read more of her life
How did she do it? One moment at a time.
There are storms in life when circumstances threaten to overwhelm. And seasons when life is just still and we long for adventure and excitement and the storm seems like it is in our own hearts. Sometimes in these moments the Lord seems silent and we feel like saying to Him are you awake? Did you know about this storm? And He is there. And He asks us to wait. And He does know.
Wait.
And be faithful with the everyday things of life. The laundry, the tidying, the cooking and cleaning, our daily work at the office …
And we tell our hearts to learn from the example of Jesus. Who as Elisabeth Elliot points out to us to in the first chapter of Keep a Quiet Heart, slept in a boat in a storm, ate with the man who would betray him on the eve of his death knowing what was ahead.
He had the blessed assurance of knowing that His Father would do the caring, would be attentive to His Son’s need. Was Jesus indolent? No, never lazy, sluggish, or slothful, but He knew when to take action and when to leave things up to His Father. He taught us to work and watch but never to worry, to do gladly whatever we are given to do, and to leave all else with God.
When Dave was very ill before he died, he wondered if perhaps, we should not have had so many children. “You will just have to do your best,” he said. I told him at the time with a laugh, ” You know, I think I will need eight children!” And Dave laughed because he knew me well. God knows me too. I enjoy the work and God knows that I need plenty to do! I think that is why God gave thorns and thistles to Adam and Eve. Work is good for us and it helps us to keep quiet hearts.
Lord help me to be busy about the everyday things in front of me, to be faithful with them and leave the rest to You. Enable me to have a quiet heart, not busy being anxious about what is up to You. Forgive my striving for things that are in Your hands. Give me the wisdom to know the difference.
