– Monday Muse –
Dear One, for nearly 40 years now, there will be a morning every now and then, following days of stressful busyness, when I wake up simply exhausted. I try to ignore the symptoms, but I find it nearly impossible. My brain seems numb, there is a sense of inner quivering, and my limbs seem incredibly heavy. I hate to have to take the time to recuperate. I do all that I can to not give into it by making passive efforts to accomplish, but the effort is nearly futile. Nothing seems to help but the passing-of-time, and rest. I did talk to my doctor about it. He suggested ‘rest’ when needed. Yuck! But I suppose he’s correct. For rest does take care of the problem in a day, or so, but… I guess what I want is some kind of switch that I can flip for instant energy, something like a light switch.
I could say that being in this state seems like being in Hell, but I WILL NOT. The Lord set me straight on what Hell is like. So I no longer say that anything on this earth is ever ANYTHING like Hell. For it is not. Oh, it’s not! It only took God one-half second, truly, for Him to teach me that. It was in the 80’s, and I was in a situation that made me think that Hell could not be any worse. One evening, during that time, I attended a Christian Women’s Dinner Club. There a speaker who had lived through a near-death experience shared how she had been ushered to the very gates of Hell.
There, while seated at a beautifully arranged, white covered, circular table with seven other ladies, I silently concluded, Hell can’t be as bad as what I am experiencing these days! Don’t ever say that, don’t even think that! Within what seemed to be a split-second, meaning less that one, God let me know of His anger with my thinking. His anger was paired with an instantaneous sense of the horror of Hell. I caught my breath, and shuddered as every hair on my body bristled. The shock, and surprise, had me fighting for composure. Thankfully most eyes were on the speaker.
Thinking over the experience produced for me a new understanding; all that this life holds here on earth, counting extremely horrific losses, pain and sufferings cannot equal the misery of being in Hell.
For here on earth, as it is written in Scripture, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1. No matter how bad life gets here on earth, God is here. He is near, if only we are willing to draw near to Him, we can walk with Him in the Spirit. Hell, somehow is void of God, and that is what makes Hell…Hell. Imagine this earth without God, and His influence through His believers…mighty ugly, right? Right. How foolish were my thoughts. How quick God was to set me straight. Hell is the extreme of all that is horrific, Heaven is the extreme of all that is magnificent.
After the shock subsided, I silently asked for forgiveness for my mistaken attitude regarding Hell. I believed the brevity of that evening’s lesson was due to God’s compassion. It seemed that He would not have me suffer the horror any longer than was absolutely necessary. And, of course, He was correct. For His lesson was strong enough to last a lifetime.
This morning I am trying to write this in one of those states-of-resistance to my exhaustion. And even in this state, in the back of my mind, are dull, distant rumblings of ideas for the upcoming weeks, and months of life. Oh, life is too short to be wasted. Huh? I remember when God taught me that! Life is too short to be wasted. I was thirty-four, it was in the fall of 1979. Hmm… an essay for another time. “Dear Lord, You are a loving, and relentless mentor. May we do our best to have ears to hear, and live according to Your will.” Amen.
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself
strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” II Chronicles 16:9a
Blessings,
Susanne
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Complaint Restraint
– Secret Place Insights –
