No really, Shalom.

 

I surround myself with positive, encouraging, and inspiring words.

 

 

 

Yet, there are days these words don’t penetrate my circumstances. They don’t soak into my being, alter my personality. At least not a lasting change; merely a temporary high.

How do I…

 

 

 

 

 

For a lengthy period of time, I have prayed for total wellness and wholeness. Mental. Spiritual. Emotional. And Physical. A few days back, the Lord showed me He designed that from the beginning. He has a word for it.

 

Shalom: originally understood as peace. I believe, though, that peace is the end result. Shalom also means completeness. Wholeness. Health. Soundness. Fullness. Rest. Harmony. And my personal favorite, the absence of agitation or discord. Pretty much summed up my desperate prayers.

In His grace, the Lord not only led me to the waters of Shalom but also instructed me how to drink them. How to let this Shalom permeate my entire being.

 

God longs for us to connect with the truth of His word. If we truly believed the words of the Bible, we would live out the days of our lives differently. Not some temporary high that we get off of fresh revelation to lead us through each day, but a genuine absorption of God’s principles, His truth, His design for our lives. Maybe I’m the only one, but if I truly grasped the depth of His truths I wouldn’t be Shalom-bulimic.

We recognize Selah as a necessary pause, but Chuck Missler suggests that we consider Selah as a connector. He reminds us how Selah connected the end of one Psalm with the beginning of the next, therefore uniting them. Uniting what went before with what is to come. A “thought-link,” if you will. 

If I can connect (Selah) the truth of God’s word and my current circumstances, with where I am now, with what is to follow, I can walk in the wholeness (Shalom) God has designed for me. The birth of Jesus brought the Shalom I have relentlessly petitioned God for; it is I who must choose to walk in it.

 

Father, as we celebrate this season of your precious Son, Jesus Christ, may you lead us. Holy Spirit, fall upon us the very way you did the Virgin Mary many years ago. Impregnate our spirit with your very Spirit. Invade us. Overtake us. Operate with your life within us so we can walk in the wholeness, total well-being, and purpose you have designed. 

 

Jo Ann Fore is an author, speaker, and writing coach. She is passionate about making a difference in the lives of other women. Most noted for her authentic vulnerability, Jo Ann captivates her audience with faith-filled messages caramelized with a powerful promise of hope. Find out more about Jo Ann here.