Right where I am

Another one of those days yesterday.  There seem to be a lot of them lately.  You know the kind, never enough hours, and too many things on the to do list.  I felt like I couldn't even breath.  I struggle with letting go of the mundane, the thousand things that need doing, but really shouldn't be causing me stress or worry.

Updating my Mom's apartment has become the never ending job.  The whole place got a paint job...still not complete.  The bedroom got new flooring and now the furniture from that room has spilled into other areas of the house, and the painting is still not complete.  The leak around the air conditioner in my bedroom needed to be repaired, drywall replaced, sanding still needed, and of course, the painting is still not complete.  A problem with the plumbing in the bathroom had to be fixed by going through the wall in the entry, which again, needed drywall replaced, and, yes you guessed it, the painting is still not complete!!  LOL  Add this to every day chores, errands, working.....and you get the picture, I am ready to jump the ship of life!!

Every area of my house seems to be in disarray.  And I don't do well with that.  I have this theory that those of us who are most chaotic on the inside need the most order on the outside.  And I am definitely not living in order, so you can see where this would drive a personality like mine to the brink of melt down wanting only to run and hide under the covers.

But God is so good.  I went into my office yesterday (you know, the one with the piles of paperwork needing sorting and filing), and there on the file cabinet was a book (God bless all these writers who help us so very, very much) called "The 21 Most Effective Prayers of the Bible."   by Dave Early.   For some reason (God???), I picked this book up and thumbed through it.  Believe me, I did not have time to be sitting there looking through books!  I was in the midst of an anxiety attack, debating about going to work, figuring how I could get the most accomplished in the smallest amount of time.  My hand stopped on the chapter depicting the prayer of Nehemiah:  Strengthen My Hands.

          Neh 6:9  They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will           get  to weak for the work, and it will not be completed."  But I prayed,              "Now strengthen my hands."  

Nehemiah was trying to accomplish the herculean task of rebuilding Jerusalem's walls.  He had little time, little people, enemies round about and an impossible calling.  So what did he do? (I probably would have started some sort of list)  He went to God in prayer.

So that was it.  I sat right there, right at that moment and took the time to pray, "Lord, strengthen my hands."  I felt God lead me to this place, to this time for a visit with Him, just to give me a reminder of where my strength lies and to give me a moment to breath and rest in His presence.  And I did.  And I am so glad I did.
My insides got a little quieter, my spirit more peaceful and my mind more focused. I still had a ton of things I wanted checked off the to do list (no, none of the painting got done, LOL), but I knew that it was okay.   God was meeting me, right where I was.

It is so important to look for those little visits throughout the day.  I am so glad I didn't let this one slip by because I was too busy to take the time to listen as the Holy Spirit drew me to Himself.  Lord, open my eyes to these times.  I don't want to miss one visit with You !!