When I need to gain clarity, I find myself in familiar places.
Hello cafe friends!
Hope you have enjoyed the glimpses of sunshine that we have found over this weekend (amongst the hail & winds!) I found myself up early on Saturday, so decided to not miss the opportunity of a sunshine walk! Glad I did because in the afternoon I fell asleep on the sofa! That never happens!
Hands up who struggles to make a decision! I am awful at making a decision, even though I know that once I've made a decision and enacted it, that I feel so much better. Still, I meander on going up and down paths, wondering, overthinking, analyzing data that is not even there!
I often find, to gain clarity, I find myself in familiar places.
Throughout my life, this has been by the water. I think it's a result of my childhood, we lived near the sea and it was the easiest place to go to when I needed to think.
I feel like I've had a few decisions to make, I feel like they feel bigger because of lockdown and I feel like they are messing with my emotions more, because of lockdown. On top of this I am excited to be speaking at an event on Tuesday, but still haven't put pen to paper and allowed what in my head and heart to speak, flow through a pen.
I say, I often find myself by water, but there is another place that I go because I know, whenever I come to a certain part of it, God always speaks.
I don't think it's a magical place, or a 'thin space', it's not for this reason that I gain clarity, slow down, hear him speak. I think it is a matter of expectation. I know he has spoken there, so I go back, and I intentionally wait because it is a familiar place where I hear his voice.
I wonder, do you have a place where you expect to hear? A place that has become familiar for you to go to, to hear God speak, or find peace on a decision.
I think for me there will always be something about walking. Staying still is generally the worst way for me to still my mind. When I was younger, I found peace when I did the washing-up. Doing something repetitive where I don't have to think, seems to still me and helps me see clearer than when I am asked to be still.
Back to my familiar place, Oare Gunpowder works. I headed off, firstly to go and have a good walk, it was only as I got to the entrance that expectancy grew and I thought about placing some of these frustrations and questions before God
I was listening to the Double Love podcast as I walked over to the works and was so into it I knew I had to listen to the end, and time was on my side so I chose to circle the lower ground
before heading up to the specific place where I knew to wait.
Familiar but not magical
God has spoken to me in other parts of the Gunpowder works, like I said this place isn't special. God can speak to you anywhere, at any time but I think I had got so used to my thoughts and overwhelm accompanying me in my little house, that I needed to walk it out!
It was time, I put my headphones in my pocket, the podcast having finished a while ago but I sometimes like to keep the earbuds in as I pray. For the last ten minutes, I'd been walking & talking and eventually came to the steps to the higher ground. As I walked, I felt God say to allow the 'wind of the spirit' to blow through me. Which made me laugh out loud (thank goodness no one was around) because as I reached the open group, the wind died down!
So I stopped and waited, but not for long as I heard that familiar voice, begin to speak, and as He spoke, the wind began to gather again. So I stood arms open wide listening.
and his words gave me hope, and peace, and a sense of what was to come. I felt his joy, I even danced for a moment! I recorded what I heard, and walked across the open space to make my way to the decent and towards home.
It made me think, why here, why is my expectancy and faith so high here? What do I do in reaction to that, which always means I hear? Am I the same in other areas of my life? At church on a Sunday, in costa on a Monday? At Macknade on a Friday? What would happen if I carried this attitude, patience, and focus into every place? I'm not berating myself, just having a wonder?
I still know I will sometimes find myself here, because for me now, it's a sanctuary, a place of faith for me to come to. Do you have any places that have become a sanctuary for you?
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