I have been consumed this past week with the heaviness of what is going on in our world as of late and for therapeutic purposes I grabbed my pen and paper this morning to just put down in black and white what God is telling me about my future. Never in my 58 yrs. have I felt such uncertainty and anxiety about our government, our world and our ultimate survival. When you look at your savings account and take into consideration what goes out vs. what comes in, it can really give you reason to have concern. I hear the stories in the news from friends and even my own children that make me want to curl up in a ball of fear. The fear of the unknown is all it is and I flip flop back and forth between relying on what God says in his Word regarding our provision, to all the “what if's” that my mind conjures up.
Standing strong in the face of adversity is a challenge but it’s a challenge that ultimately will make you stronger in the long run. There is a verse in scripture about how awesome it is that God is mindful of man. Little old me in this great big world and God says that He has count of the hairs on my head! He knows my comings and my goings, my strengths and my weaknesses. He grieves with me and rejoices with me...and why is that... it’s because I am His child. I was birthed into the family of God and God became my Father and from that moment on something greater than my humanness took hold. I think the first thing you feel when you go through this transformation is a sense of peace. The burden of choice has been lifted. I chose Life and I trust that this Life will be the guiding force from whatever days I have been appointed on this earth. This comfort and sense of security has never let me down and I hope I have passed this on to my children but now we find ourselves at a time of life where the boat is rocking somewhat and I am needing to remind myself “from whence cometh my strength?" Of course I know that it indeed does come from the Lord.
The past two weeks we celebrated two birthdays in our family as well as the birthday of my sister. It has been a busy and happy time of love and good wishes and the assurance that we are all here for each other, no matter what. The one thing I try to stress to them all above everything else,is that your first priority is to know beyond a shadow of a doubt who you serve...God or man. We must always remember that we can never be completely autonomous beings. We will serve either God or Satan but we will never exclusively serve ourselves. So the real difficulty to our coming to know the truth about life is rooted in our wanting that which we can never have which is the desire to be the God of our own life and that is the part that keeps us in this worry and restless frustration.
I had a long conversation last night with my son about a job change. After spending so much time and money on education and climbing the corporate ladder he finds himself in a job that is stifling and very unfulfilling. He feels his talent and passion for what he has been created to do, sitting by the wayside. His inner prompt is telling him to jump into the unknown but the rational side is probably scared to death when you look around and consider all the “what if's”. A few scriptures came to mind:
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.”
(Matthew 26:25-27)
And then this one which is the glue that holds it all together:
“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose Life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and hold fast to Him.
(Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
So I tell my kids to just hold fast. He’s got our backs and realize that when we chose Him, He BECAME our choice so it’s a win win situation. Our existence on this planet is exclusively about Life. Everything else is details and we can get seriously bogged down in the details of living. We are consumed with the physical, mental and emotional aspects of living. I get caught so often myself and it is usually my children that bring me circumstances and situations that remind me of who is in control because my only response is to remind them of who is in control.
So......another day of listening to the doom and gloom on my favorite current events show...."Morning Joe" and offering words of comfort to friends and family that call to vent about how crazy it’s all getting to be. As my favorite author William Landon says:
“If you will not come to the Father to have life you are dead. If you do come to the Father you will have the life that is real life. You will have this life for all eternity. It is a life that no one can take from you. This is a life that is even impervious of anything you have done or will do. The choice for life is the one choice that is irrevocable. It is a life that overcomes all things. This wonderful gift of life is available for the asking. There is nothing to join and there are no dues to pay or forms to fill out. If you choose to express this real life in some organizational way, that is up to you. Such organizational expressions are not required and they will not disqualify you.”
Now that is a bargain if you ask me.
