When I was a little girl, I loved hanging around all the adults. Kid conversations weren't as fun as what the grownups were talking about. However, if my mom was in the middle of a conversation with someone and I interrupted, she always reminded me to wait until they were done talking.
 To a 6-year-old, waiting for several minutes always felt like several hours. Why did I have to wait? Doesn't my mom realize what I have to say is IMPORTANT?

Now, many years later, I've realized that waiting to speak isn't just about being polite. 

Don’t get me wrong, it is OK talk. But there will come a time when God has you in a Hush Season. 

Anyone who knows me, knows I have the gift of gab. I know, it doesn't sound like a gift, but it truly is if geared in the right direction.
 When I was in middle school, this beautiful gift was used so much that I was named the “detention queen” by my assistant principal. It wasn't because I was causing trouble. It wasn't  even because I wasn't doing my work. It was because when I finished my work, I turned around and started talking to people around me.
Little did I know what my assistant principal called a "nuisance to the class", would one day become the weapon that God uses to help others. 

There's a difference between your voice being silenced and your "Hush" season. 

For years I wasn't allowed to speak because my voice was silenced with fear, condemnation or shame. 
I was always afraid of saying the wrong thing because I didn't want to sit through a 2 hour lecture of how I didn't know my place.
I didn't dare have a difference of opinion because I was the one who was wrong.
 So, it got to the point that just did what I was told to do while screaming on the inside in hopes that someone would hear me; but they never did.  

When we can't speak about the hurt, we are going through, it comes out in different ways.
We wallow in self-pity and love when people pet our troubles. We talk out of turn not giving others a chance to speak. We constantly correct people when we should just be listening. We always make the conversation about us.
We purposely choose bad behavior so it will get noticed.  We talk in circles. And finally, we talk so much that we interrupt others.
 These actions are screaming: LISTEN TO ME!!!  This comes from being forcefully silenced.
 So, what makes me an expert on all these things? Well because I was this person.

Your Hush Season is totally different.
Although silence and Hush have the same meaning they act as two different action verbs (at least for me)  
God brought me to a Hush season because I had to shut out all the noise and only hear HIM. In my Hush Season, God brought me through the valley so he could whisper that there was a mountain top awaiting me. I had to start listening to that still small voice instead my own toxic thoughts. I started listening to the voice of God instead of just hearing the messages.

When you don't have anyone  to listen to your meaningless conversations, your complaining about your horrible life (that you won't change), your job, your lack of a job, your worthless friends, your too many friends, what you're going to do this weekend or what you're not going to do because your too broke to enjoy your life, etc. 
Do you get what I am saying? 

When God asks you to Hush...its not because He is forcing you to be silent, it is so you can truly listen to what He has to say to you.

It’s hard because I still feel like the 6-year-old girl trying to CRAM my whole conversation with God so I can go about my business.

Yet... He keeps asking me to Hush.

He is not trying to steal my voice or  bring me shame. He is trying to speak to this season of my life.

Many of you today, have been in the place where your voice was never heard.

Maybe your mom abandoned you. Maybe your dad didn't care to hear about what was going on in your life. Maybe your husband/wife is making you feel less than but you’re too afraid to tell them because it will turn into another fight. 

Whatever it is, all these things have stolen your voice.

But God.

God wants to bring you into a Hush season so you can hear what He has to say about your situation. I am slowly at the end of my Hush season and I have learned a lot.

I learned that in order to be a good listener, you must first learn to listen. Sounds simple but it wasn't for me. I had my opinion and my words had to be heard. 

Now, I just HUSH because in order to know where I am going, I must listen to my GPS (Gods Positioning System) in my life.

Today if you need to be free from the cage of silence, you also may go through a Hush Season. Its OK to be silent with God.
​Its His way of leading you out of the wilderness and into His promised land with authority and power.
 
Don’t ever lose your voice, just allow God to show you how to use it.
 

Broken Beautiful Ministries

We’re halfway through the month of February and soon it will be the beginning of Spring. So many of us begin the daunting chore of clearing out the clutter from our homes. Somehow, we keep things we no longer use. In some cases, some of us have become “hoarders” because we think someday, we may use this gadget, blouse or tool again.

In fact, statistics show that if you don’t use a product within the first 6 months of purchase, it will never be used. Millions of American’s have a garage, closet or basement full of clutter!

So, what would happen if we “spring cleaned” our relationships like we did our home?

Every year we get the opportunity to meet new people. We go on vacation, attend a conference, land a new job or meet someone through a mutual friend. We “add” them to our friends list. But do we ever connect with them on a level that is meaningful?

See we live in a culture that promotes “the more you have, the better off you are”. This fits with just about anything.  But are we truly happier with having more? Or do we need to learn to do without the extra clutter? 
 
I too, had to look at it from a different perspective. I realized that I had so many people on my “friends list” that I didn't talk to anymore. It wasn’t we got into an argument, more like we grew apart. 

Was I carrying “clutter” into this next season that God has for me?

The word clutter means to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness

WOW. Now that’s powerful!

Please don’t misunderstand me, people are not clutter. But the emotional strings that are attached to those once relationships/friendships or family members could be causing impeded movement.  
Soul Ties.

So many think these two words only apply to couples who have sex before marriage because it can create a “soul tie”.

While this is true, what about the soul ties that you’ve picked up in friendships/relationships and family ties throughout  the years?
Have you ever heard negative words in your head only to remember that someone (who you thought was a friend) spoke that into your life?  
At the time it could have been out of concern, but then it became an impeded movement and it reduced effectiveness in your life.

I have heard certain phrases that have caused me to “second guess” what God called me to do.
 
As a matter of fact, every time I would step out, those words came at me like a flashing NEON sign to remind me of how I was not qualified.
The Lord later revealed it was an unhealthy soul tie that needed to be broken.

So how does this all tie into clearing out the clutter? 
God is moving. The harvest IS ready, but the laborers are few. In order to reach the next level or destination God has for us, we must clear the clutter in order to see the path before us.

 The hardest thing to do is step away from a relationship you thought was bringing life, but instead is speaking death.
Jesus knew it.  Yet that person betrayed Him with a kiss!  Can you imagine? Getting betrayed  was hard enough, but to be kissed as a “sign” of LOVE had to be hard even for Jesus.

Today if you are feeling like there is something stopping your growth, maybe its time to go into the closet of your heart and start clearing out the unwanted junk you’ve been holding on to “just in case”.
My best friend told me this years ago, and I live by it daily: A relationship should complement your life, not complicate it.

 If you are afraid that your circle will become too small, maybe it needs to. I’d rather have 3 good people that will lift me up and speak life into me than to have hundreds of spectators who are impeding my movement.

Spring is almost here! Start de-cluttering your life. It’s time for a new beginning. 

~Broken Beautiful Ministries