When the Plates Spin
Published Dec 19, 2023
By Gaye Lindfors
A short chapter in the Bible that grounds me and gets my heart, soul and mind back in synch with the Sacred, is Psalm 117. (It’s also an easy one to memorize.) Open your Bible and read the words out loud – maybe more than once. It will change how your day feels. “The faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” (That includes today.)
Here’s why those words matter …
On some days the plates are neatly stacked. Orderly, uneventful. Other days they spin…furiously. Watching the twirling, feeling the frantic, makes me dizzy. The tiny life stick that holds them in the air can’t stay straight and they wobble in big arc circles and then crash into jagged, sharp pieces.
God is faithful…always.
On the neatly stacked days, I take a breath, and everything is clear. It all makes sense. Everything is in synch.
God is faithful…always.
Six breaths later, the phone rings and there’s a hurt or a need or a request that throws my equilibrium off and I have to remember to breathe deeply…or even just breathe.
God is faithful…always.
I spin the plates and try and keep them from wobbling.
Then back to the work I want to accomplish, hoping that interruptions stay far, far away.
God is faithful…always.
The email pops up and it throws me for a loop. The rejection feels like my heart has been pricked. As if the feeling of not being good enough was hiding there all along, just waiting to get my attention.
God is faithful…always.
I remind myself that I live for An Audience of One. One person’s opinion does not send the earth crashing to a halt—it just wobbles the plates. It is one person’s opinion. I move through it and place my plates on the precarious sticks again.
God is faithful…always.
When these days come – and they do – we can only cling to what is constant.
Trusting in others to always show up just as I want them to show up will never happen…that’s the stuff for fairy tales.
Believing that nothing will disturb my schedule, my priorities, my expectations of others…well, that’s just plain silly. Not even remotely possible.
And reading and praying all the verses between Genesis and Revelation may not change my situation. Stuff is still going to happen.
It’s on these days that I go back to that one simple truth…
God is faithful…always.
It is my soul’s cry. My heart’s beat. And my mind’s mantra.
It brings me Comfort. Peace. Hope.
It is Truth.
When the plates spin and they wobble on my precarious life stick, I will rest in God’s faithfulness.
Because He is faithful. Always.
P.S. Here are two of my favorite books that continue to keep me tethered to what matter most. Books that remind me how to live faithfully. Especially when the plates spin.
Listen to Your Day: The Life-Changing Practice of Paying Attention by Paul Angone. (So very good!!)
From the back cover: “It’s time to stop drifting, stop worrying, and stop living distracted. Discover how you can walk purposefully through life with a firm grasp on what’s important to you and what you’re working toward—all by listening to the details of your day.”
Mastering Life Before It’s Too Late: 10 Biblical Strategies for a Lifetime of Purpose by Robert J. Morgan. (Such a gift to finding the way to live and work “pleasantly productive.” So good!)
From the back cover: “Here, in easy, readable segments are ten workable routines for aligning your daily agenda with God’s perfect will. In this book, you’ll discover the godly rhythms of productive people—lifelong patterns to help you order your life, beginning today.”
