The Isolation Chamber

A crummy attitude was surfacing yesterday during physical therapy. My regular therapist is a hard-core, matter-of-fact kind of guy. He is very knowledgeable and I trust that I know what he he doing, however, I do not feel all warm and tingly when I see him. His typical greeting to me is, "Alright, let's get going, get that brace off and get over there on that bike!" Tears started to well up in my eyes a few times when he was pushing me to exceed my limits in that harsh tone yesterday. I believe that there are plenty of other ways to encourage people. I actually look forward to therapy on Tuesdays when I am greeted politely by an abnoxiously sweet lady because it's his day off.

Anyway, the attitude didn't improve after therapy. I threw myself a pity party on my way to pick up Gavin but forced myself to snap out of it when I saw his little smiling face. As bedtime approached, I couldn't help feel frustrated with the fact that all my days have started turning into each other. My activities and outings are so limited that I feel like I'm living in the movie, Groundhog's Day. As I was getting ready this morning, a phonecall from work forced me to squeeze even more work into my itty bitty four hour day. I was heavily annoyed. I shared my frustrations with a co-worker about how SICK I am of being laid up. It's been nine whole weeks already.

Then I proceeded to make my way through my e-mails and read the message below. I couldn't help but feel that I was suppose to read it exactly when I did. The attitide has improved and the isolation chamber doesn't seem so bad when you know who's in charge. I'm praying for the chamber to open real soon.

The Isolation Chamber

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Tuesday, October 26 2010

"Be still and know that I am God...." Psalm 46:10

There is a time and place in our walk with God in which He sets us in a place of waiting. It is a place in which all past experiences are of no value. It is a time of such stillness that it can disturb the most faithful if we do not understand that He is the one who has brought us to this place for only a season. It is as if God has placed a wall around us. No new opportunities--simply inactivity.


During these times, God is calling us aside to fashion something new in us. It is an isolation chamber designed to call us to deeper roots of prayer and faith. It is not a comfortable place, especially for a task-driven workplace believer. Our nature cries out, "You must do something," while God is saying, "Be still and know that I am God." You know the signs that you have been brought into this chamber when He has removed many things from your life and you can't seem to change anything. Perhaps you are unemployed. Perhaps you are laid up with an illness.


Most religious people live a very planned and orchestrated life where they know almost everything that will happen. But for people in whom God is performing a deeper work, He brings them into a time of quietness that seems almost eerie. They cannot say what God is doing. They just know that He is doing a work that cannot be explained to themselves or to others.


Has God brought you to a place of being still? Be still and know that He really is God. When this happens, the chamber will open soon after.