Quick Tip 15:Make Room for God

A young woman kneeled at the altar in the church and prayed reverently to God. For years she had led a pious and good life and yet there was no sweetness in it. Life had been hard on her and she had weathered many storms in her relationships, her work place, her parentage, and her financial circumstances.

All along she had kept up a brave front dealing with every challenge that life threw her way with strength, but now her body and spirit were both beginning to give way. She could take it no more. She was tired; tired of the trying and striving, the pleasing and pretending. Her shoulders drooped with the weight of her troubles and she was always sick in the stomach, unable to digest the unsavoury flavours of her life.

As she continued praying, her sniffles turned into sobs and then the dam burst. Her whole being quivered with the pain inside her and the sound of the wails echoed through the empty church. She cried inconsolably and when the storms within subsided, she felt a gentle peace descend upon her.

Suddenly she felt the pain no more. It was as though the invisible hand of God had scooped away the pain and lifted the weight off her body. Slowly her body relaxed and became limp, and her mind felt empty for the first time in years. She was no more her body or her mind…she was merely an expansive knowing.

In that deep silence, a loving voice arose.

My child, your vessel has been so full that no matter how much love I pour into you, it simply drains away in the overflow. To feel my love and receive the gifts of my blessings you have to first empty yourself out. Empty the pain, the hurt, the traumas, the anguish, the anger and the grief. Then only, can it contain my love. Then only, can you fill it up with my gifts and each day you will feel them permeate through every single cell of your body and your being. Slowly your whole life will begin to transform and my light will shine through. No doubt that in the last many years you invited me into your home several times, but you never made room for me to stay with you.

1. Examine all the pain you are hoarding and holding onto.

2. Find a mentor or friend who you can share your pain with

3. If you have no one to share with, spend time each day pouring your pain out on sheets of paper, and once you are fully empty, burn up those sheets

4. Most importantly, let your tears wash away your pain

5. Never store pain. It has a tendency to multiply like a fixed deposit