Chilly Willy

 

Proverbs 25:1 

Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master.

 

 

Have you ever felt a cold feeling?  I don't mean the wind or in the winter.  Just an absolute cold feeling?  It used to happen to me more when I was younger and little more rowdy. I took myself to places that would give most people a chill.  But recently I've had that same familiar chill come my way.

I remember in high school when it first happened and I told my dad because it freaked me out.  It troubled something within my core .  And, I remember that I wanted to run as fast as I could but I felt like something was tugging at me to stay.  Without asking a lot about where I was or what I was doing my dad told me that God gave everyone a sixth sense.  He went on to tell me that sixth sense was the ability to know where I shouldn't be, who I shouldn't be around, and to tell me to get of where I was. And to be honest that made complete sense to me because I knew where I was and it was shady.

Well, within the past couple of weeks I've felt that same chill.  Why is that? What is God's green earth am I doing that God is trying to fend me away from? What is this mama of two and wife involved in that is shady?  Trust me it's nothing like in my teens.  I know God, I trust him, and I have faith and confidence that he walks with me.  So, why the cold chill?

It's made me think about where I've been when it happened, whose been there, and what is going on.  When I reflect it's all been situations where my faith is being questioned ever so slightly.  The friends that I'm talking with are talking about their personal heartaches....I thought I was being a good listener.  Then the chill crops up. In other cases friends ask about me and my faith directly.  They question how I can remain liberal in my ways and be a follower of Christ. 

 In one case I took my friends hand and started to pray over her....say what?  Yeah, that is so not my style.  I'm the friend that loves her friends and through me they are to know Christ....that's always been my gig with God. But I'm not the one that's ever been the bold one with her faith.  The one that instantly starts praying.  What's happening here? 

That is what scares me. I feel that chill and I start to pray with someone and tell them about God.  Who am I?  What right do I have to do that?  And, aren't they gonna ridicule me to my face or behind my back? Well, in the cases that I did start to pray it was like a ray of sunshine came through, eased their mind, and I no longer felt the chill.

But what about what my dad told me as a teenager that a "chill" was God's sixth sense to tell me to run fast and furiously away from the situation.  Or were those my dad's words where my Heavenly Father would have had me proclaim his love? 

The whole thing has me perplexed. Maybe there is truth in when you feel the "chill" that you pick up your friend's hand, hold it, and pray over them.  And, then maybe there are times that you feel the "chill" that you should run fast and furious from the situation.  This troubles my heart today.  How many opportunities have I had that instead of running I should have taken the hand of a friend and prayed with them?  How many times that I stayed for the good time should I have ran?  And, seriously, God, why, would you ever want this smart aleck, mouthy, city gal to ever be your back up to her friends and people she knows?  I don't feel qualified.....and that makes my heart hurt more.

So, today I'm going to pray about what God asks of me and how he shakes me up to get me to listen.  Shoot, a cold chill really can revive a gal from having her own "gig" with God into a gal with a God's gig imagine the possibilities. 

Peace Be With You- Sherry