Dear Lord; Happy Tuesday Father!
It’s funny Father, but I never thought of Your Word as blood pressure medication before today.
Following a significant power outage/surge event in Dover late yesterday afternoon, we were greeted at the office this morning by a flurry of “help me” calls from a number of our local customers. Now, in and of itself, it wasn’t an overwhelming volume of crises but I noticed as the morning wore on that I was becoming increasingly irritable and was feeling my heart pounding in my chest… not a good sign. I tried some slow breathing exercises, and to focus on one task at a time but couldn’t seem to calm down and get a grip on the day. As my chest tightened further and my head began to throb, You placed a distinct and firm command on my heart:
Go rest in the Word.
I’ll be honest Lord, my first thought was not immediate obedience. After all, it was the middle of a workday and I had things that I needed to get accomplished. Sensing Your insistence however, I told my admin that I’d be “off the grid” for a while, closed the door to my office and fired up YouVersion on my Nook Color…
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” – Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
In that stillness, in Your Presence, I found my calm Father. The pounding in my head abated, my chest relaxed and I felt Your Peace come to me.
Contemplating the events of the morning, I realized that this very much falls into line with the message about “Spiritual Decompression” You gave me last week. Finding refuge and inspiration in Scripture is one way I can become closer to You, and in doing so gain the balance that my spirit needs to navigate the Journey You’ve laid out for me.
I see the path Lord, and I thank You for being so faithful in guiding me along it’s twists and turns.
Amen.
~Phather Phil
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
Sometimes through it all, we just need to be still and know Him. That is one of my favorite verses. I have it posted in several places in my home.
It’s one of my favorites as well Jenifer. I’m going to start planning aside more of that Stillness Time… I think we all need it.
Have a Blessed Day!
Always thankful to have Him as my guide along the way…
As am I Allison. The more I open myself to His Voice, the more I realize my path may not be what I think it should.
Have a Blessed Day!
What a great lesson learned here. His Word tells us to seek Him first. We find perfect peace when we rest in His presence. Glad you found peace for your soul.
Thank you Lisa. You’d have thought I’d know this lesson by now, but thankfully God knows I needed a reminder. 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
Phil…
I can relate; just read your additional post on spiritual decompression. God is urging me to some concentrated time with him and in the Word; I’ve hit the wall as well, so my writing at the blog, along with all other social media, is going to slow down for the summer. It’s just demanding too much of me, and with all 4 kids back under roof for this season, I can’t juggle it all. Unfortunately, my time with the Lord has taken a hit.
He’s just too important to me, and I’ve lost a step or two; time to get back to his feet and keep in step with his heart.
Take good care of your heart as well, in addition to your family!
peace~elaine
Believe me Elaine, I understand completely. With our splintered lives these days, it becomes very easy to get wrapped up in our earthly concerns and push our time with God to the “backburner”. Thankfully, He is ever-faithful and waiting for us when we realize our disconnect and find our way back.
Have a Blessed Day!
I like that you followed the Spirit’s promptings and took time out in your hectic day to seek Him. So often we don’t do this. But, there’s a blessing there waiting for us when we do. Glad you were able to decompress.
Thank you Eileen. By this point in my walk, I would have thought that I’d just know to handle it this way but apparently I needed a “nudge” from God to remind me. Thankfully, He’s not subtle! 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
One of my favorite verses to use to center before prayer. I too never thought of the Word as blood pressure medicine but what a neat concept.
Ever use the Be Still verse and slowly drop off one word at a time from the ending. Say it slowly, silence, repeat it, dropping off one word ( Be still and know I am) then keep repeating until you are only saying one word – Be. Very powerful prayer and brings peace to me.
Thanks Phil!
Thank you Jean! I haven’t tried that, but I will now that you’ve told me about it. 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
This is beautiful Phil. It’s a very inspiring discovery, isn’t it, new every time I find, that this place of perfect calm is always present within us.
I can feel its love right now as I contemplate your beautiful expression and the magic of the timeless connection that I feel with you. With love brother.
Thank you so much Christopher. It’s very easy with the hectic schedules we all seem to have these days to have problems finding that Stillness that’s so important to our spiritual well-being, and by extension ourselves as a whole. Thankfully, God’s “nudge” yesterday reminded me of that essential component, and I was able to find my calm again.
Have a Blessed Day Sir!
I think it’s really big when we can stop in the midst of chaos and anxiety and sit quietly in His presence. That is something that cannot be done without His strength and without complete trust in Him. What a great act of obedience that glorifies Him in a mighty way. Thank you for sharing this, so encouraging!
Thank you Heidi! I told my staff that barring any serious emergencies, I’ll be taking a regular “Stillness Sabbatical” each day. 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!