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It has been a long while since I sat down to write a post.  And you might notice some changes around here.  My website is in the process of getting overhauled.  And soon, I hope, the FaceBook and Twitter pages will catch up.   And maybe even my email newsletter will get the same makeover, before too long.  As we entered to Christmas season, I was hoping to have everything ready to start in the New Year with new look, but it all has taken much, much longer than expected.  For most of my life, a situation like this would have really gotten under my skin.   

In fact, this website redesign actually began in early August.  My amazing web designer needed more time due to some family issues, and then more time, and more time, and me…I decided to stop writing altogether.  I needed a break because this Fall, so many signs pointed to closed doors for me.  I’ve had peace about the progress of the web design and the writing hiatus because I saw God shutting the doors.

In the summer, I was selected to join a great team of writers in a new ministry.  I wrote thousands of words for a series that should have been published on the web by now.  I was mid-way through preparing for my first webinar.  I was on conference calls and Skyping with some pretty wonderful women.  Then, in one day, it was gone.  The ministry that had started out with such promise, just collapsed.

As a homeschool mom, I have taken on a new responsibility this year – teaching English Grammar and Composition to some of the my favorite homeschool families.  But this endeavor was fraught with conflict and controversy early on – not within our sweet classroom – but way above me, in places where my voice didn’t matter.  And I was silenced, again.

In some of my most personal relationships, I was in conflict too.  In these tender places, the salt was being applied directly.  And God was calling me to be quiet about it.  You can look back and see that He has been calling me to quietness for a very long time.  Those of you who know me personally will understand why this lesson has taken so long!  But here is the Truth:  The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent (Exodus 14:14).

So all at once, I was just worn out.  And I was sure of one thing, that the Lord was in the midst of all of this turmoil.  But the comfort of the Lord?  I did not feel that.  I felt His sure discipline.  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).

Discipline is teaching and training.  And I knew He was training me to be at peace.  Have you ever failed to find peace in the midst of conflict?  Have you ever been at the mercy of your own emotions or someone else’s?  Have you been in relationships, or situations, in which chaos and disorder reign?   That is not the Way of the Lord.  Here is what the trustworthy Word says: For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace (1 Cor 14:33). 

The Lord is a God of Peace.  And we are commanded to be like Him.  Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).  To be holy is to be set aside for God.  As for me, I saw that to  be set aside for God, I would first have to set aside my expectations about people and my life and, instead, accept this: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).  I have heard this, and I have known this, but have I lived it?

To live comfortably in the knowledge of God’s Sovereignty means that you can have peace in any circumstance because you are certain that He is wise, He is good and He is in control.  Sometimes things don’t look pretty.  In fact, sometimes things look a bit like a train wreck to us, or to others, but God is always at work in those who love Him.  And there is much peace in that knowledge.  

Hugs and Happy New Year,

Britta ~ I am justAgirl…just like you.