Life in a Hole, a devotion

Life in a Hole

Today’s devotional was pretty inspiring. I used its guidance two days in a row. It is all about how obeying God is actually just listening to him. My journal prompt was: what did you learn today? Today I learned that my analogy of life in a hole has shown me that our hiding places may not be just avoidance tactics but mental health days. Those are the times where we just can’t hear God with all those nutcases vying for our attention. And I admit, I can be one of those nutcases. 

God has been impressing upon me how important rest is to my life. As a self described workaholic, rest used to be quite a curse word. I felt like, heck, if I rest, I’m not good enough. Being kid number one in my family, I learned a lot about how to cope with and deal with life from my mom. And she was an avoidance expert. But also the smartest lady I know. Dad worked out of town a lot when I was a kid, so it was just me and mom. Mr Roger’s Neighborhood began right when I was old enough to understand adults and what they were trying to teach me. I was sure ole Fred was talking straight to me from my tv (you know, those really big ones with a record player on one end). Mr Roger’s had his “beautiful day in the neighborhood” and to my great aunt Florence everything was just “wonderful.” I had a lot of great influences back then but I learned my own self preservation lessons from mom. If life scares you, go into your cave, your kitchen, your hole and hide out til the coast is clear. 

I took those hole days in the past to color in my coloring books or play in large cardboard boxes because those were more fun that what came in them. Today I journal, write fiction (more a way to work through things in life than an aspiration to publish), stitch or just sit and “be” in the silence. The one good thing about holes is how quiet it is. And when you want to hear God, silence is needed because he has a still small voice, like a whisper. 

My devotion today said God won’t ditch you but he also longs for you not to give up on him either. This speaks to my “hole” analogy. My character Kevin “the Boy Scout” Fairchild fell into a hole. Okay more like nudged or shoved into one. And I was using Kevin and my Pastor Noah characters to help me navigate what I am coining my “Hole Years.” I totally pulled a Noah (or a Sandy, that’s my mom’s name) and hid away. Was I prompted by others — yes. But in a way I think that’s God using others to get us to move when we are hecka stubborn. He pokes and prods us, sends us into holes, storms and even soaring good seasons so we can grow. 

God has been showing me how rain isn’t bad. I always frown when it rains, because, man, I can’t walk today and that was my plan. Rain causes plans to go awry. And when life rains on us, a lot of times all we see is CAN’T. Maybe through this unexpected rain he is asking us to consider… Okay, it’s raining so — what CAN you do? Kinda mind blowing, huh?

Rain is healing and nourishing to our planet. So wouldn’t rain in our life, our walk with God and family be a way to grow and not to limit us? Steven Curtis Chapman has a song that says it best here: it takes a lifetime to love and learn. Boy howdy, does it. 

My devotion says that to obey is to simply listen to God. Not act, listen. How could I get that so mixed up. Oh, right, nutcase here. Pointing to myself. We need to listen and digest what God, Holy Spirit and Jesus are trying to get through to us by shoving us bodily into a dang hole in our life. They aren’t out to harm us or to be that big meanie in the sky. Truthfully, God has a purpose for each one of us but sometimes it’s hard to get truth through our thick skulls. 

God wants us to live wholly for him. My devotion said that. I was like, yes! You are so right! It goes right along with my life in a hole theory. So i guess that hole idea is pretty relevant. (Snickering at the play on words). In order to live wholly sometimes we need to duck into the nearest hole and commune with the Almighty. Jesus went to his mountain. I live in the valley, so my mountain is a hole. 😘