A cyclone was due to hit my town recently and there was a little bit of nervous excitement in the air. People stocked up on food, cancelled weekend events and prepared for bad weather. News reports kept us up to date on what we could expect in the coming days and preparations were made.
We awoke Saturday morning to a beautiful sun-shiny day. The sky was clear and blue and really, you couldn’t ask for better weather. My husband and I even had breakfast by the beach—just gorgeous!
The cyclone had been downgraded overnight and the only effects we could see from it came in the form of some awesome (yet dangerous) surf which our local surfers enjoyed, drawing crowds of local onlookers to the beach.
Deflated
I’m not sure, but I kind of feel that our town was a little bit deflated at the lack of action from the cyclone? Radio talk-show hosts talked about the fizzle-out of the cyclone and some offered to give a shout-out to those organisations who had cancelled events for the weekend—and then life went back to normal.
It humoured me a little. While the drama of the impending cyclone put everyone on alert, the rise in adrenaline had many looking forward to it—even if just a little. On reflection, I’m really glad that the cyclone didn’t hit our town as I would be devasted to see this beautiful part of the world torn up by extreme weather.
Drama attracts drama
It’s a little like life really. The whiff of drama often attracts drama. People are attracted to it because it is something out of the ordinary that takes the attention off oneself while casting it on to others. Gossip magazines thrive on the drama in celebrity lives and if there is not enough to report, they’ll make it up.
In reality though, blessings lay in the lack of drama. To live a consistent life, without unnecessary overly dramatized situations is a much preferred, uncomplicated way to live.
Paul talks about this in chapter four of his first letter to the Thessalonians: “Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters…to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (verses 9-12)
While I secretly enjoy a little drama in the out-of-the-ordinary surprises that often occur in my life, (and so long as they aren’t detrimental to anyone’s health or well-being), there is enough that happens naturally to prevent me from wanting to encourage any of it. When you think about it, God wants to lead us beside quiet waters not beside tidal waves! He doesn’t antagonise storms, he calms them.
“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” (Psalm chapter 23 verses 2-3)
So, when the threat of unwanted drama looms before me, the quicker it is diffused, the better. God wants us to live a life that is free of unnecessary complications and to do all that we can to live at peace with each other.
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians chapter 4, verses 2-6)
Rebecca and her husband have four children and live on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. Rebecca writes for various publications including print, online and commercial. She is the author of two books: ‘First to Forty’ and ‘Pizza and Choir’. For more information you can find Rebecca at: http://www.rebeccamoore.life, Facebook: Rebecca Moore - Author, Instagram: rebeccamoore_author