So the Duck Dynasty stuff continues and changes are being considered. The world is still turning on its axis.

But what about me? You?

I said what I had to say about the hiatus imposed on Phil Robertson. But what about the hiatus you or I may have gone through? You know the one where we were headed down the road of success and change came? A divorce or financial circumstances came? (I am in the process of completing a book on Interrupted Process.)

Last night I had a vivid dream that took me through places like North Haven Connecticut and back up into Vermont. Much of it seemed “out of place” until the end.

What I saw happening in the dream is people were trying to recapture or reclaim a friendlier time in their lives. One that brought them comfort and joy. People were shopping at area stores, talking to people in the parking lots, putting bags of presents and food in their vehicles.I found myself headed over to a restaurant. As a child it was a “char pit” and even 6 years ago when I was in a meeting down there I stopped and it was still the same place. But instead of the restaurant I envisioned it was a large restaurant with no windows and an overhanging roof to let people get in out of the weather though no yet in the restaurant.

There was a three person band there. They were singing songs that should have been “Christmas-y” but they began this one song and I felt like someone had just stepped into intense intercession or prayer. “Come free us Lord Silvanburg.” Over and over again, I heard it. The woman with the Afro stayed on this and I woke.

I felt like God had put something in my dream not yet understood. I knew silvan to be a woodland. I spent some time studying this morning about it. My conclusion is there is world of people who have not seen. They are in the woods or the forests. They like it because it is “peaceful” and coming into the light of day is frightening to them.  But there is a call that is going forth. A calling them out into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9) and they will be freed. The harvest is white (John 4:35-Because the blood was already shed.) and we simply need to walk out into the streets of our community and be who God has asked His people to be.

I am like a child in a candy store these days. I see so many good things happening. Oh, I recognize the bumps in the road, but it is all worth it.

Some of you have been on hiatus. Defined as follows “A gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break” we are disconcerted when things do not go as we had planned.

Last night I sat here with friends. I shared with them that Jesus gave us a new heart, one of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26) along with a new spirit. Yay! Until you realize it can be hurt, add value to emotions. I never cried until I entered ministry full time. The people had such pain. I had so few answers. One answer stood above-Jesus!

Crying was foreign to me. “Real men do not cry” I thought. I think I only saw my dad really cry once over the death of his mom. In my day and my upbringing when dad “cried” the world was over.

Now my children and grandchildren would tell you I cry.

I shared with my friend that the “hardness” of the heart I talk about (Though I do not use that word.) is callouses on flesh. I believe that the more people allow emotions to run high the more calloused our heart gets. Why? Because a callous is the body’s response to constant rubbing or fraying. The more emotional stress and strain come into our lives the less likely we are to remain soft and pliable.

The place of rest is the answer. There is no “heavy” lifting in the Kingdom. Jesus tells us to “come unto me all of you who are heavy laden, overburdened and receive rest. (Matthew 11:28)  “You can tell a man’s work by looking at his hands” is a popular adage telling you whether they know how to labor. But a heart is to be shielded so that it remains pliable or supple in the hands of the Lord.

I need to learn to exercise my faith or utilize it to remain in a place of rest. Storms may come and storms may go, but I can remain seated in a high place, not subject to these things. I must mix my faith with the word I have heard to enter. (Hebrews 4:1-2) And being in that place of rest does not mean I will not experience emotion but it will not destroy me.

Too often what we do, we do out of “obligation” and not out of rest. The result is callouses form. We no longer are sensitive to God or others. We become numbed to things. (Ever hear “skin like leather”? That was a depiction of callouses so thick nothing could be felt.)

We may not be able to recapture “what was” but we can create “what is.”  I was not called to “remember” unless it means to see the members of the body of Christ empowered. I was called to create and make change. To see heaven here on earth. Not someday, some time, but TODAY!

As I shared a story with my friends, laughter just began to encompass me. And it spread to the others. We were laughing so hard, we could not talk, tears in our eyes, holding our stomachs. And it lasted.

I am not convinced I need to wait for a moment. I believe I am in the moment. For whatever it is.

You may be trying to recapture something when God is encouraging you to start afresh. Sometimes the hiatus is for you to realize that God just loves you. Every day is a new with new “blessings and mercies.” What does that mean to you? (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Someone asked me my 2014 prediction the other day. It’s getting better was all I could respond with. It’s not a year or a vintage, but it is ever flowing. Out of our bellies shall flow living waters. John 7:38

In the midst of your hurt there is an option, a choice even. Do you know how callouses go away? Stop working. “Hard hearts” make hard choices. Soft hearts make soft choices. They are responsive. Years ago I heard somebody pray, “God anoint my forgetter.” I find that laughter eradicates pain. Friends cause a problem to be shared.

I encourage you today to know that there is a river, whose streams make glad. (Psalm 46:4)

If the holidays are “hard” you have to be realistic enough to recognize that righteous, peace and joy are part of His kingdom and His gift you. You may have to think on that. But He loves you. He cares about you.

Today I hear these words-

You or another may have scuffed your heart. You emotions may be flooded like a carburetor that does not allow the vehicle to start. Sometimes you just have to wait. It may take a moment or two but your life is about to be restarted in a wonderful way. You can wait and enjoy His companionship or you can worry about the future. It is that simple. Sit with the one who loves you or be so caught up that you do not see Him. The key to losing the calluses of pain and mistrust is to simply be. Stop trying and start being.