Shhhh. It’s Okay.
One day recently in the Christian bookstore where I work, a child was crying. And he wasn’t quietly shedding a few tears, with a little sniffle every now and then. This little fellow was upset about something, and he wanted everyone within a mile of him to know it. He had some pretty healthy lungs, and an ample supply of tears to go with it. We could hear him all over the store—and our store is pretty large, as far as Christian bookstores go.
Going about my regular duties, I turned a corner and there they were: Mom walking toward checkout, holding the hand of this little boy, whose cries by now had become screams and whose tears had become rivers of discontent. Mom’s lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying.
Only when I got closer could I hear what Mom was whispering to her little boy: “Shhh. It’s okay. Shhh. It’s okay.”
We’ve all seen (and perhaps done it ourselves!) moms and dads discipline an unruly child in public, their nerves as frazzled as the child’s. Not only do they have to deal with the screams and misbehavior of the child, but they also have to deal with the understandable public humiliation. They can almost feel every eye in the place focused on them, and can almost hear every person thinking, “My child would never act like that in public! [Yeah, right.] Why don’t they do something?”
But instead of losing her temper, instead of letting her son’s discontent spoil her whole day, this mom had figured out another way. And as I walked past, a thought popped into my head: what a great picture of my relationship with God that is! I’m the little kid screaming and crying because I didn’t get something I wanted, and God is my Father who gently takes my hand, leads me in the path I should go, and keeps whispering to my spirit, “Shhh. It’s okay.”
And perhaps you’ve heard that Voice, too. Perhaps today you’re in the midst of one of those “upset” times. You may not be actually crying or screaming, but your spirit is in turmoil. Be still, is what the Scripture says. Be still, and let God remind you that He is God. And when you calm down just a bit, you will hear His Beautiful, Wonderful, Loving, Soothing Voice say to you, “Shhh. It’s okay.”
