"WIPE OFF THE SMIRK OF SORROW AND LEAVE IT FAR BEHIND"

God's ambush on one of His daughters, nudging me off the cliff

Romans 8:1-2

• "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."

  God is an expert ambusher of His sons and daughters, especially when He wants to make a strong nudge that you will not easily forget. The closer your daily walk and relationship with Him is, this begins to happen. He did that to me tonight, at a church event. I had blank paper in my handbag and immediately grabbed the paper and pen when I heard Holy Spirit begin to speak in my heart.

  I am an expert ruminator, fretting and futzing over minutia, especially in the writing I do both on Substack and other writing. Editing and considering is good...except when it reaches obsessive properties, and "looking at you, Wendy Elizabeth Williams." Tonight, even as late as it is, I am taking a leap of faith and creating a short piece of what Holy Spirit told me tonight and allowing Him to craft it with less of my own control freak at the helm. What an idea!

  I recently did a Substack piece on the dangers of the deep sarcastic cynicism called "snark", which I myself struggle with and which permeates our USA and Western culture in 2024.  Snark can be momentarily fun but it drains my soul and can create sorrow and pain for someone else. My legendary sharp tongue is in the process of being tempered by the Hand of God and not an easy roll this is but needed for my refining process.

  In the attempt to simply present what Holy Spirit said, so efficiently and elegantly, I am going to quote Him verbatim and allow His concise brief words to span out and touch the hearts and spirits of whoever He guides to this short piece.  I send out the arrow and let it go, a major "thing" for me. 

  "Kick off the weary and debilitating and debasing cynical spirit which blocks the roads you desire. 

  Day by day, shove back. Wipe off the smirk of sorrow and leave it far behind and let Living Waters rush through you to touch others who are brokenhearted. We  are good only by His power, not intellect, but bound up by the Shepherd of our souls, the Author and finisher of our faith. "

  Wow, God, more, please.

  Having had a sorrowful soul for so many years, it becomes habit to some degree, even with legitimate reasons for sorrow (for me, grief in my teens with deaths of two immediate family members in two years).  Sorrow and the spirit of grief can absolutely trap and drain your soul. This is my battle and the one God called me to offer help to others who may have the same battle. 

  "Encourage the discouraged" is what God told me to do, especially with my Substack writing. Humble though it is, I pursue that in staying on the narrow path set for me from the One Who created me and Who actually knows things I do not. 

  I did  not realize I had a "smirk" from snark. I dislike smirking, as I see the falsity and arrogance of it and the emptiness, hidden behind the face.

  OK, God, I hear You and I will follow what You asked me to do, to the best of my ability. 

  Hey, if you see me smirking with snark, tell me, OK??

  Nighty to all, 

  Wendy Elizabeth Wiliams, a blunt Oregon Girl,  April 20, 2024

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