I had one of those moments the other day.
An "I spoke too soon" moment.
In past pregnancies, I suffered fairly significantly with SPD - "symphysis pubis dysfunction", or Pelvic Girdle Pain. It is when you have pain caused by an instability in the pelvis, caused by hormonal changes in pregnancy. I had it get progressively worse throughout pregnancies, but had it much less with Elijah, and virutally nothing with Simeon's pregnancy. I had got all the way to nearly 28 weeks, and said to Robert last week, and again the other morning, about how belssed I was to have had NO problems again this pregnancy.
On Sunday, I had a slight twinge on my left side, whilst holding Simeon on my left hip. I prayed it would not get any worse, and tried not to hold him.
Then came Monday and Tuesday. We went shopping in our main shopping centre, getting much needed clothing and shoes, and various other odds and ends. I don't particularly ENJOY taking 7 children to the shops, let alone a whole day doing so. To top it tall off, my head-strong 1 year old decided he didn't like being in a pram all day, and started to get mega grumpy. All the older children took turns carrying him, but he is no light-weight. I ended up carrying him, too. Yes, on my left hip. I was starting to get a few twinges with my pelvis, but nothing major. I got home, after a long day, pretty exhausted. To top it all off, I realised we had "lost" a bag, filled with about £50 worth of goods, from Lakeland. I was just so tired and frustrated, but realised I needed to just pray about the lost bag, and wait until the shops opened again the next day, to see if it was there. Praying for someone honest to have found it!
Yesterday, after phoning the shop, I was thankful and relieved to discover that my bag HAD been handed in there, and was waiting for me! We spent the morning making a start on a LOT of sorting and tidying that needs to be done over these summer weeks, before going BACK to the shops in the afternoon. Bag retrieved, we then went to Tesco (a large supermarket with lots of other household goods/clothes/all sorts) to get stationary for school. It was another long, tiring day.
We got back home, had an easy dinner, and I pottered around trying to finish off some tidying that we had not finished before dashing out to the shops after lunch. I swept the floor (Beth had been sorting out a box of craft materials, which included glitter.... I feel we may be seeing glitter around the house, for some time to come...), brought a box to the car, stooped to dead head some flowers, and BAM! I stood up to walk back into the house, and could barely walk!! The pain was awful, and every time I stood on my left foot, to take a step with my right, it was just unbearable. I eventually got into the kitchen, and told the children I needed to sit down. The tears were unpreventable, as the pain was simply so bad.
Thankfully, Robert came home very soon afterwards, and took over the post-dinner/end-of-day tidying and supervision.
I just knew I had to sit and rest. That I had to accept that it had happened, and do what I could to rest it and hopefully recover.
Sit still.
For the second time this pregnancy, I was having to sit still.
My mind flew back to my morning devotions on Monday. I had wanted to write a post about it, but my busy days had prevented me from doing so. Here I am now, with a very relevant personal application, writing it!
I read about the Israelites, as they fled Egypt. They had just been so wonderfully released from their bondage, after many years of hard labour, and were on their way to freedom. Suddenly, everything looked far less rosy. The Egyptians were behind them, and the Red Sea was ahead of them. They had nowhere to go, and there seemed no way out of the predicament.
Listen to what the Lord tells them. I LOVE this.
There are simply times when despite our desire to do all we can to escape a situation - to fight our way out of a difficult corner - to move forwards in our own strength - or when we simply feel defeated - the Lord says "stand still - I have this - everything will be fine".
That's where I am right now. I've done too much, and if I am not careful I could end up crippling myself with pain for the rest of the pregnancy. I need to stop my little home organisation spree, and reassess how I am going to do things. I desperately want to do things myself, in my own way, in my own time - but it's just not going to happen that way.
Remember, these Israelites had just endured generations of struggle, and were fleeing Egypt, following a tremendously high tension situation - plague after plague happening around them. If that was not stressful enough, they now were blocked in.
Or so they thought.
How many times do we think that we are "blocked in"? When we are faced with a situation where we think we are at the end of ourself, and there's no way out? It happens. Sometimes, it seems, all too often.
It's all about trust. It's about hitting a trial, and trusting God can, and WILL, take care of it. Standing still, and just "seeing", shows that we have no control over what will happen, and we are truly trusting God to be in control. We need not "fight" - God will do it all for us. We don't need to fear - we can have peace. Why? Because we are trusting Him to be in control.
We may not have quite the same amazing intervention that God provided for the Israelites. NO fiery pillars, cloudy pillars, or seas literally opening before us. They may not be physically so amazing, but they can certainly be equally spectacular in our own little lives. God can step in, in ways that take our breath away. Or, it can be just in the simple things, in ways we never expected.
I don't know why, in the weeks when I had plans to be SOOOOO busy, that I am now going to need to take things VERY steadily. I don't know God's plan, but I *DO* know that I need to just "sit still" and trust Him.
The Israelites were about to see a truly amazing scene, that would finally free them, once and for all, from Egypt. Without lifting a FINGER. Without getting a foot wet. They crossed that Red Sea.
Are you facing a difficult situation today? Are you struggling with trials that you just can't seem to see a way out of? Maybe it's time you stood still, and let God fight for you? Maybe you need to simply trust Him to have the situation in HIS hands, and in HIS way. Stop struggling and fearing, and trust, and He will show you HIS way forward.
An "I spoke too soon" moment.
In past pregnancies, I suffered fairly significantly with SPD - "symphysis pubis dysfunction", or Pelvic Girdle Pain. It is when you have pain caused by an instability in the pelvis, caused by hormonal changes in pregnancy. I had it get progressively worse throughout pregnancies, but had it much less with Elijah, and virutally nothing with Simeon's pregnancy. I had got all the way to nearly 28 weeks, and said to Robert last week, and again the other morning, about how belssed I was to have had NO problems again this pregnancy.
On Sunday, I had a slight twinge on my left side, whilst holding Simeon on my left hip. I prayed it would not get any worse, and tried not to hold him.
Then came Monday and Tuesday. We went shopping in our main shopping centre, getting much needed clothing and shoes, and various other odds and ends. I don't particularly ENJOY taking 7 children to the shops, let alone a whole day doing so. To top it tall off, my head-strong 1 year old decided he didn't like being in a pram all day, and started to get mega grumpy. All the older children took turns carrying him, but he is no light-weight. I ended up carrying him, too. Yes, on my left hip. I was starting to get a few twinges with my pelvis, but nothing major. I got home, after a long day, pretty exhausted. To top it all off, I realised we had "lost" a bag, filled with about £50 worth of goods, from Lakeland. I was just so tired and frustrated, but realised I needed to just pray about the lost bag, and wait until the shops opened again the next day, to see if it was there. Praying for someone honest to have found it!
Yesterday, after phoning the shop, I was thankful and relieved to discover that my bag HAD been handed in there, and was waiting for me! We spent the morning making a start on a LOT of sorting and tidying that needs to be done over these summer weeks, before going BACK to the shops in the afternoon. Bag retrieved, we then went to Tesco (a large supermarket with lots of other household goods/clothes/all sorts) to get stationary for school. It was another long, tiring day.
We got back home, had an easy dinner, and I pottered around trying to finish off some tidying that we had not finished before dashing out to the shops after lunch. I swept the floor (Beth had been sorting out a box of craft materials, which included glitter.... I feel we may be seeing glitter around the house, for some time to come...), brought a box to the car, stooped to dead head some flowers, and BAM! I stood up to walk back into the house, and could barely walk!! The pain was awful, and every time I stood on my left foot, to take a step with my right, it was just unbearable. I eventually got into the kitchen, and told the children I needed to sit down. The tears were unpreventable, as the pain was simply so bad.
Thankfully, Robert came home very soon afterwards, and took over the post-dinner/end-of-day tidying and supervision.
I just knew I had to sit and rest. That I had to accept that it had happened, and do what I could to rest it and hopefully recover.
Sit still.
For the second time this pregnancy, I was having to sit still.
My mind flew back to my morning devotions on Monday. I had wanted to write a post about it, but my busy days had prevented me from doing so. Here I am now, with a very relevant personal application, writing it!
I read about the Israelites, as they fled Egypt. They had just been so wonderfully released from their bondage, after many years of hard labour, and were on their way to freedom. Suddenly, everything looked far less rosy. The Egyptians were behind them, and the Red Sea was ahead of them. They had nowhere to go, and there seemed no way out of the predicament.
Listen to what the Lord tells them. I LOVE this.
"stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD...
The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."
Exodus 14:13-14
That's where I am right now. I've done too much, and if I am not careful I could end up crippling myself with pain for the rest of the pregnancy. I need to stop my little home organisation spree, and reassess how I am going to do things. I desperately want to do things myself, in my own way, in my own time - but it's just not going to happen that way.
It's where I have been on countless occasions in the past. Thinking there is no way out of a situation feeling defeated and worn. Parenting can certainly bring you that place, often.
Remember, these Israelites had just endured generations of struggle, and were fleeing Egypt, following a tremendously high tension situation - plague after plague happening around them. If that was not stressful enough, they now were blocked in.
Or so they thought.
How many times do we think that we are "blocked in"? When we are faced with a situation where we think we are at the end of ourself, and there's no way out? It happens. Sometimes, it seems, all too often.
It's all about trust. It's about hitting a trial, and trusting God can, and WILL, take care of it. Standing still, and just "seeing", shows that we have no control over what will happen, and we are truly trusting God to be in control. We need not "fight" - God will do it all for us. We don't need to fear - we can have peace. Why? Because we are trusting Him to be in control.
We may not have quite the same amazing intervention that God provided for the Israelites. NO fiery pillars, cloudy pillars, or seas literally opening before us. They may not be physically so amazing, but they can certainly be equally spectacular in our own little lives. God can step in, in ways that take our breath away. Or, it can be just in the simple things, in ways we never expected.
I don't know why, in the weeks when I had plans to be SOOOOO busy, that I am now going to need to take things VERY steadily. I don't know God's plan, but I *DO* know that I need to just "sit still" and trust Him.
The Israelites were about to see a truly amazing scene, that would finally free them, once and for all, from Egypt. Without lifting a FINGER. Without getting a foot wet. They crossed that Red Sea.
Are you facing a difficult situation today? Are you struggling with trials that you just can't seem to see a way out of? Maybe it's time you stood still, and let God fight for you? Maybe you need to simply trust Him to have the situation in HIS hands, and in HIS way. Stop struggling and fearing, and trust, and He will show you HIS way forward.
Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by;
Trusting Him whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Brightly does His Spirit shine
Into this poor heart of mine;
While He leads I cannot fall;
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Singing if my way is clear,
Praying if the path be drear;
If in danger for Him call;
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Trusting Him while life shall last,
Trusting Him till earth be past;
Till within the jasper wall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Yup, all this! Having handed over our bid for a piece of land to build a home on, it's all in the Lord's hands now. His will be done. Even though our bid seems unrealistic and we have no say in the matter. We now have to hold our peace, and His will be done.
ReplyDeleteDawn x
You know I am praying for you, Dawn. x
Delete*like*, Dawn. And praying ...
DeleteThis is my first time on your blog and I needed to read this post. I have been dealing with a kidney stone since the end of June. Some days I would feel good and other days I wouldn't. On August the 1st I got really sick and went to the hospital the next day due to pain and sickness. I had to stay in the hospital over night where the doctor found that on top of the stone, I also had a very bad infection. To make a long story short I ended up having surgery to remove the stone and was send home with very strong antibodies to deal with the infection. Between the infection, surgery and now a stent in my kidney, I have not been able to do a lot. Being still is not what I have wanted to do but what I have had to do. Reading your post was such a blessings. Thank you so much for sharing you post. Please remember me in pray, I will have the stent removed Thursday this week. I will be awake for it and not looking forward to it. I well also be praying for you and your family. Thanks so much again.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless You
Hope