Spinning out of control?
Life on the Tilt-a-Whirl
I love a good thrill ride. A roller coaster that drops me almost straight down then flies through a loop and corkscrews out? Yep, sign me up for that. But, I really do not care for those spinny, twirly things.The Tea Cup ride is not for me, thank you.
That wasn't always the case. I remember going to the fair with my sister and we'd ride the Orbitron over and over. It was so fun to lean against the spaceship walls and then float-slide up the sides as the thing spun around.
The last time I went to the carnival with Gracey was six years ago. That was also the last time I rode any sort of spinning anything. We went on one spinny, twisty, twirly thing after another and for the first time in my life I felt motion sick. Actually, I felt absolutely miserable and was pretty well convinced this was how I was going to die. It was that bad.
But this last six days, I've been living my own personal spinny ride with vertigo. It comes on when it wants, lasts how long it wants and leaves me feeling woozy. I've never had vertigo before, at least not like this, and it's definitely not fun. Two thumbs down, would not do again. I've seen the chiropractor and am doing all. the. things. It's improving and nothing to worry about, but it has got me thinking.
So often in life we feel disoriented. We get a dreaded phone call and the world spins out of control. We can't choose between two good choices and feel like everything is blurry. Emotions overtake us, we can't think straight and our head feels like it is swirling.
Life often makes us dizzy. Not just physically, but emotionally, mentally and spiritually. We just can't seem to "find north" sometimes.
The thing about it is it's hard to manage. Sometimes even sitting down and having a deep breath doesn't bring our head back to our shoulders. Sometimes it takes repeated sitting down sessions or maybe longer ones.
We throw around "be still and know I am God" (Psalm 46:10) as though it is some sort of affirmation statement. We're so casual about it. Sometimes it feels like cold water in the face, other times it feels like a silly saying from a fortune cookie.
But the thing is, being still stops the spin.
Be still in the original Hebrew is rapa and actually is translated as "feeble" more times than it is as stillness. That tells me that being still is more than cancelling your to-do list and sitting in a chair. It tells me that being still is more about recognizing our feebleness to actually make anything happen outside the power of the Almighty God. The word also means to cease.
To me, that phrase is saying "recognize your weakness, stop trying in your own strength and perceive how amazing and powerful God is.
Perceiving is different than knowing because perceiving requires you to experience. And it requires you to be present, that is, not distracted by everything around you.
So, here's the thing. We have very little control over vertigo. But we absolutely have self-control and the ability to stop the emotional roller coaster and the mental dizziness. And it does require stillness in your schedule but it also requires letting go of your own competence and grabbing onto the goodness of God.
Listen, if you can't seem to get off the roller coaster and everything around you feels like a tilt-a-whirl, that's where I can help. We weren't made to do life alone and sometimes you just need someone to say, "Yep, I've been there, I know the way out."
Come Away with Me Workshop -- it's FREE!
Using the "Come Away With Me" Personal Retreat Guide, Kristy will step you through a seasonal re-set to help you transition from the summer sizzle and into autumn release.
Three short video workshops will step you through:
Rest is more than doing nothing
Letting go of "more"
Setting life-giving rhythms and routines
The videos are pre-recorded so you can watch them any time!
Comments