People People People

 

This is a photo I took on our daily walks, of a beautifully flowering camellia tree over in Gig Harbor last week. Now that I've written that sentence three times and yes, I meant the adverbs and adjectives to be placed where I did, I will leave it there. If you are a grammar and word police, do your thing. Enjoy.

On our trip home last weekend, it rained torrentially all day, the whole route was in constant downpour with only the bridges and overpasses allowing for a half second of quiet. I tried reading aloud as we wanted to finish our book, but my voice went hoarse from straining. The rain noise won and I put the book away.

And I thought about storms and solid downpours in life in relationships. In comparing storms and sunshine to relationships, one could easily get very off track. Maybe. But I find in my life with the tendencies I have toward sheltering, protecting, and nurturing quietness; it really kind of fits. The parallels are endless for me.

Very probably, we marry our opposites. And our best friends have no idea what we are going on about at times when trying to explain our heart cries, but that is not what makes a best friend, as much as the ability to listen and be loving and encouraging, regardless of how much is understood. Similar, I suppose to spouses.  The point is, we are often put in families and with partners through marriage or in the work place, who can make us feel at times like we are in a perfect storm that doesn't have an end.

As storms go, when you are in the middle of one, in a boat or a car or a tent, they all seem to go on and on and work at making you miserable either from the sheer terror of the wind or the wet of the precipitation the storm holds. And we all know little rivulets of water is how a flash flood gets its start. 

Anyway, I find it very helpful and basic, to have direction on how to stay calm and carry on, how to find refuge and safety in such circumstances, how to not grow anxious and fretful and fearful as the storm rages so to speak in our relationships. In other words, you do not have to join every invitation to someone else's tornado or hurricane. Just because you love someone does not mean you have to be a part of their anxieties, fears, and unrest.

Just because a son or daughter mights say a snide thing about your husband or wife, or the other way around; doesn't mean you have to agree or affirm. You can, as a wife or mom in this circumstance, hear it and not give comment or report on it. I wish I had learned this sooner. I could have used that much earlier in my life. 

Some personalties sort things out... like paying the bills, finding lost items, confronting hard to do jobs...through much ranting and raving audibly. Fretting and pacing and storming and ruminating are these people's usual modus operandi. I'm not here to judge this type, goodness knows, I've also had my moments caught in that trap. But I am here to say this is a trap. And I no longer have to be ensnared in it just because someone I am working closely to, is.

Helpful and basic direction? Is simply this: Pray, pray, and pray. People need you in this way. This is something you can do for them. Pray for them to take their fretting to Jesus. Repeat the noise you are hearing and being bombarded with to Jesus. Cast it all on Him. He does care for you, yes, but He also cares for them. And He wants them to tell Him. He's waiting for them to see Him as their Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. This is the very basic and helpful direction God gave you. You can bless them and not judge their storms. You can stay calm and exalt the name of our Father by bringing them to Jesus when their thunder starts to roll. 

Join praise to God and praying for mankind. Don't join left or right sides of politics. Don't add to human agendas and personal opinion unless it aligns with the Word of God. Be cautious about causes and good deeds of man.

Declare praise of God Almighty and obedience to following Jesus. Don't preach and shove you opinion around. The power of the Holy Spirit doesn't work well with a noisy human filled with his own righteousness...You won't see the power of the Holy Spirit do it's work if you are always looking around and aware of the wrong other humans are doing. 

Look at Jesus. Be still and know that God is God. So much more is accomplished when we shut up and fall down on our knees. People. People. People.