Sometimes Life Happens

Have you ever encountered a day where life seems to just happen to you in a way that completely disrupts your routine and re-routes your life forever? Perhaps you have encountered many of those days. I am certain that many soldiers can understand what it is like to encounter disruption when they lose a limb or are injured by bombs. Many civilians are also caught unaware by disruptions such as drunk drivers, car accidents, deer standing in the road, car bombs, doctors telling them they have cancer, etc.

These life changing moments can be overwhelming at times, but God has built into our bodies a mechanism to enable us to overcome these moments. It is a tiny little part of our brain called the amygdala which kicks into overdrive during these times of crisis. It takes over for the conscious mind and runs the body helping us to cope during crisis until the conscious mind can handle coming to the surface again. It constantly amazes me the more I study the human body how uniquely we are all formed. We are created to withstand incredible amounts of stress, yet there is a limit to the amount the human body can withstand before it starts to break down.

I often wonder if catastrophic life events aren't reminders to us to slow down. I am not saying that they are God ordained, I am saying that things happen sometimes for a reason. I believe that God knows everything that is going to happen in the universe and I believe that He knows how to help us through these events. Some of us get so caught up in our every day affairs that we forget to take the time to get quiet before our Maker, to listen for His still small, yet large voice. Sometimes, I believe that we get sick because we are not taking the Sabbath day off to rest like we are supposed to as God designed the Sabbath day to be. Instead we are using that day to go bike riding, playing golf, hiking mountains, etc. In the scripture, it states that on the 7th day, God rested from creating the world. This is the prototype for all creation. We are encouraged to rest from creating... from working, from doing. Many of us grew up in families where we were made to feel guilty for resting... well, today, I'm going to give you permission to rest. I'm going to give you permission to not feel guilty for taking care of your body. You might say, "who am I that I can give you permission?"... my answer is that "I am a child of God, just as you are a child of God... and I release you from the guilt and shame that anyone has put on you that is not from God, and I release you to be who you are as His child because that is what His word releases me to do as His child."

Now, I know that people from all over the world read this blog... so I hope that you can understand that I care for you, each and every one of you. I am saddened by the events in Pakistan especially, and I pray for my friends and readers in Pakistan. I pray for peace and tranquility to come to your door. Most of all, I pray for peace and rest. May the God of the Heavens and the earth give you peace and rest in Christ Jesus! Amen and amen!

RamyB