Mountain View - Baking Soda for the Spirit By Leyla Williams
Writer Author Church On The Mountain
Christian Column
:
Encouragement
- Fiction No
I have been sick this week and in a panic to get better, so I looked up remedies that could aid a speedy recovery. One remedy was to gargle with baking soda and warm water to heal a sore throat. Apparently baking soda helps get your body back in balance. It actually did work, and it made me think of how the Bible is the balancing agent for our Spirit. Each hour I would stand by the kitchen sink with this simple concoction and gargle, letting the baking soda and water rest in the area of injury. Our practice of reading the Word needs to have that same element of suspension. I’ll let you in on something personal to illustrate what I mean.
This year has been wonder-filled. We have a new baby girl, we bought a house, and we purchased the Looney Bean in Mammoth. There have been so many encouraging words and provisions during this past year from Jesus, which surpassed anything I could have asked for. However, this last month has been extremely difficult and I am not surprised my body finally protested and I am now sick. Our children’s lives were threatened and we still have an open police case; a key member of our staff had emergency surgery and is still not fully recovered; another staff member got kidney stones leading to an infection; another staff member who is pregnant had to go on bed rest because of complications. I was thrust into working 20 hour days for almost two weeks until new staff could be hired and trained. These details are just the tip of the iceberg. So many serious things occurred in unrelenting succession that it caused me to question how it all could be happening…. Feeling like I was tumbling in whitewash, I had to take in the Word over and over again until finally I caught a thread which could then become my anchor.
In Isaiah 50:7-8 I found words that brought me back into balance; I had to gargle, or suspend, these words over and over again to let faith emerge and occupy all the places where I had felt bewildered and off balance. Using the verses as my prayer, I began to state, “For the Lord God will help, this is why no insult can wound. This is why I have set my face like flint, knowing I will not be put to shame. My vindicator is close by.”
I realized as I prayed that the series of bad incidents felt like an insult in the wake of such a wondrous year. These troubling events were harassing us, and threatened to diminish my resolve to trust God.
The best of the “anchor words” from Isaiah came a bit further down in verse 10: “Even when he walks in the dark, without any light, he will trust in the Lord’s reputation and rely on his God.” That Scripture described exactly how I felt… No light, yet walking. I had to keep going, but I couldn’t see. As I prayed these Scriptures in Isaiah faith flooded in! A fresh understanding came that even though I am walking in the dark and it might not be over yet, I trust in the Lord’s reputation and I rely on Jesus. I know it sounds like, “duh!”, but I needed to see my strategy in the context of being in the dark. I needed the Lord to remind me that His reputation was trustworthy, even when I couldn’t perceive how He was helping.
When things get out of whack, a word from the Lord rebalances our spiritual chemistry, and well-being returns even if our circumstances don’t change immediately. Suspend God’s Word over the imbalances in your life and you will see the steadfast effect of His word bringing order and healing to you again and again.
Editor's Comment:
About the Writer Author
State:
California
Country:
United States
Email:
Paulafriedrichsen@live.com
Website:
www.churchonthemountain.org
Profile:
Click here!
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