Waiting to Thaw

To trust God in the light is nothing, but to trust Him in the dark—that is faith. C.H. Spurgeon

Sometimes the dark of a deep-freeze is a necessary prelude

to silencing distractions,

to stilling the constant motion,

to seeing the shape of things that weren't visible before.

Sometimes it takes a snow-day

to shut-down

and shut-off

and shut tight the doors of home, car, office and stores

to

freeze us in place for a moment,

to

immobilize us in order to see the moment,

to

freeze-frame a moment that might have been missed.

"The day that you’ve been waiting for is today;

the moment that you’ve been waiting for is this very moment.

You must pierce the veil of time and space

in order to come to the here and the now.

In the now, you will find what you have been looking for."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

And maybe the moment

is one in which we are face-to-face

with a winter storm of feelings,

harsh and unexpected,

leaving us frozen of expression,

immobilized by uncertainty,

or chilled to the bone with bitterness.

Maybe when everything comes to a sudden stop,

we suddenly realize that we are nearly frozen solid.

Maybe being nearly frozen solid

shocks us into the urgency of thawing,

of restoring the life-giving blood-flow within us.

It's a frost-bite that hurts, then hurts so much it is numb.

But without re-warming and the pain of re-feeling,

tissues can die because of lack of oxygen-flow.

Fear can freeze any body into something frigid and rigid.

And even worse?

Fear can freeze a heart into something like an unfeeling stone.

(In Scripture, the "heart" was thought to be the seat of emotions of a person, or the inner-most being of a human.)

Trying to live with a frozen heart is short-sighted

and short-lived.

And "living" with a frozen heart...is not "living" at all.

Fear can freeze any body into something frigid and rigid...

But no body has to stay that way.

Frozen can't remain dark where there is a trace of light.

Frozen can't remain cold where there is a touch of heat.

Frozen can't remain stuck where there is a tinge of energy.

Fear can freeze a a heart into something frigid and rigid...

But no heart has to stay that way.

"...I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.

I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh

and give them a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 11:19

Frozen...just requires an opening to thaw.

A frozen heart can find illumination in trust.

Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” John 13:7

Trusting that God is God, and we are not, can shed light on the things we try to control as we consider Who is truly in charge. Trusting His Word can reveal understanding.

A frozen heart can be warmed with remembrance.

"I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands." Psalm 143:5

Listing and speaking our gratitudes, our glimmers of hope and our God-Sightings can warm us (and others) with reminders of God's constant love and goodness, in spite of any circumstances.

A frozen heart can be mobilized with an opening of obedience to turn it right-side up.

I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. Psalm 119:7

Showing up in obedience to do the next right thing is what God asks of us. Lifting up our voices with praise, thanksgiving and expectation can mobilize us to do His Will, His Way, in His Time.

A frozen heart can also benefit from hope and the encouragement of other hearts who have been rescued, restored and revitalized:

"...I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. When you do enter your room, you will find that the long wait has done you some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling.” C.S. Lewis

Thawing anything frozen requires time.

But don't set a timer on This One.

Thawing requires Waiting in the Open.

Waiting for light, and opening to light in many forms;

waiting for warmth, and opening to channels of warmth and connection;

waiting for movement, and opening to respond to momentum;

waiting for encouragement,

and opening to sources of hope all around.

Jesus warns us that we will have periodic frozen-heart syndrome in this life.

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

It's Jesus saying, "Take. My. Heart. It flows for you and for all."

A frozen heart can only be revived over time with renewed flow.

A frozen heart can only be revived with the flow of a Great Love.

"He who believes in Me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 1 John 3:17

Thawing requires Waiting on the One Who Restores our Love-Flow.

God is the unlimited river of life-giving Love,

the In-Flow

which makes possible

any Out-Flow for His Good and for His Glory.

Keeping open, we keep the Love-Flow possible.

Keeping open, I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called—His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance.

Paul to the Ephesians 1:18

Keeping open, we can start feeling the tingling of hope...