A Case of the Blahs

Did you know that the word “blah” is actually listed in the dictionary? Webster defines it as “a feeling of dullness, boredom, lethargy, likened to a winter’s day.”

I guess that sums up the way I’ve been feeling lately. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what the problem was. I just knew that I wasn’t my usual good-to-go self.

I have to admit: sometimes the blahs just seem to creep into my life unannounced. I’ll be going along just fine when, all of a sudden, it feels like my engine begins to run on three cylinders instead of the usual eight.

I’ve come to believe that the blahs are simply characteristic of the human condition and not to be heralded as anything more. I even had a good talk to God about them, but before I could apologize for the way that I felt, He simply hushed my lips, nodded, and said, I know.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in everyway, just as we are — yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15 NIV).

I know the Lord has brought me a long way from where I used to be. In the past, I would have analyzed myself right smack into the diagnosis of having a serious backslidden condition, and that if I was ever going to snap out of it, I had better crank up my spirituality a few more notches by praying more, fasting more, or buying that 16 lesson series on “How to be a better Christian.”

Talk about your super-charged, hyper-driven, got to get it done Christian! In reality, all that had happened was I had fallen back into a works mentality, and that little elusive five-letter word known as Grace had once again become the name of my favorite Aunt, instead of the needed virtue that would carry me beyond my current dilemma and into the wonderful rest God was calling me to. What started out as a simple case of the blahs turned into a major emotional hurdle of my own making.

Just in time, God rescued me from the gauntlet of condemnation and guilt. He delivered me by quieting down my restless spirit and telling me, Daughter, I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. Come now and sit at My feet. Let Me bring peace to your heart once again by reminding you that My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Come and lay your head on My shoulder and let Me whisper that all is fine.

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.” (Ephesians 2:14-15 NIV).

Copyright Missey Butler, used with permission.