Everything is Going to be Okay
Life
today looks a lot like the results of that recipe. It’s no wonder so many of us
are struggling with panic, frustration, and sorrow.
It’s
completely ok to be fearful. It’s what we do with that fear or what we do in
the midst of that fear that matters.
Do
we watch incessant episodes of Gilmore Girls while eating Cheetos and cookie
dough? (Asking for a friend.) Do we hide and waste the time we’ve been given? Or
do we decide to rise?
And,
if we decide to rise, how do we do that? How do we rise above the chaos and the
hand sanitizer and the nightly news? I know I can’t do it alone. I need
something bigger than myself, something greater to pull me out of my worry and doubt.
I need the Lord.
So
did a guy in the Bible named David. You’ve heard of him. He’s the guy who
killed a lion and a bear while tending his flock of sheep. He stood up to the
Philistine giant, Goliath. And he was a successful young captain in Israel’s
army. Israel was constantly at war in those days, so David knew what it was to
be scared and saddle up anyway, to loosely quote John Wayne. David would
eventually rise to be King of the nation of Israel.
David
didn’t deny the presence of fear in his life, yet he knew what to do with it.
He boldly trusted God despite his distress and dismay.
In
Psalm 56 verses 3 and 4 David said, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.
In God (I will praise His word), in God I have put my trust; I will not fear,
what can flesh do to me?” While you and I both know that “flesh” can do a lot
of painful things, what David was saying here is the good God gives is much
greater than anything another person might do to him.
In
this Psalm, David finds himself captured by some of his enemies and he is very
alone. He fled from Saul who was king, who was his boss, his commander in
chief, and went to Gath which is where Goliath was from. Goliath’s people
hadn’t forgotten what David had done. David, much younger and much smaller, had
humiliated the Philistines by destroying their champion with just a slingshot
and a rock. The Philistines were still mad about that.
What
seemed to bother David the most about this situation wasn’t just being imprisoned,
or solitary, or in danger, David was bothered most by the pressure, the
unrelenting seriousness of his situation. In Psalm 56 verses 1 and 2 David
says, “Be merciful to me, my God, for my enemies are in hot pursuit; all
day long they press their attack. My adversaries pursue me all
day long; in their pride many are attacking me.” Then, in verse 5 he
says, “All day long they twist my words; all their schemes are
for my ruin. (emphasis mine)”
The
incessant-ness of his situation was getting to David. Isn’t that what bothers
us the most too? When you dread bedtime because your five-year-old is going to
put up a fight. When you just want to be able to visit with your friends or
work or go to the grocery store without a mask and hand sanitizer in your
pocket. When you just can’t get away from the political arguments.
But
David knew God was with him. God loved him. God heard him and was sympathetic
to David’s problem. In Psalm 56 verses 8-9 say, “You number my wanderings; put
my tears in Your bottle; are they not in Your book? When I cry to You, then my
enemies will turn back; this I know, because God is for me.”
So,
what do we do with this? How can I apply this to my life today? How can I daily
live out my trust in God? Here are just a few things I’m trying to do.
1. One of my resolutions for 2021 is to listen to
the Gospels on my Bible app. I can do it while I’m in the car, cooking dinner
or folding clothes. I love how the stories that are so familiar come alive when
read one after the other.
2.
Pray. When I pray, I’m
trying not to recite my problems repeatedly. I share what’s on my heart, of
course, then I thank God for the many blessings He’s placed in my life.
3. Journal. I try to journal most weekdays. I set
my timer for 15 minutes, open my journal and write. It’s not always pretty or
Godly or even legible. But it helps me get the thoughts out of my brain and on
to paper. Amy Grant, the singer, calls it a brain dump.
While
you’re making use of one of these practices or something completely different,
remember that you’re not alone. You’re never alone. Some of you are literally
NEVER alone. You long for a day when you don’t have anyone clinging to your leg
or pressed up against the door while you’re in the bathroom.
God
isn’t like that. He’s the company you want to have, the breath of fresh air
that clears your lungs and your brain and revives you for the time ahead.
One
night when my twins were about three years old, I tucked them in to bed and
heard the dreaded words, “Mom, don’t leave. I’m scared.” I tucked Allen in
tighter and told him he didn’t have anything to worry about. Dad and I were
right down the hall and besides, Jesus was right there in the room with him. He
had no reason to be afraid.
I
told the boys to blow out the light, flipped the switch and closed the door
most of the way. Then, I went about my nightly routine – wash the dishes, wash
my face, pick out clothes for tomorrow. While walking past the boys’ bedroom, I
paused outside the door to see if Allen had calmed down. He was completely
quiet. Davis however was chanting over and over, “I’m Jesus! I’m Jesus!” He was
the only other person in there and if I told Allen that Jesus was right in the
room with him then…
After
laughing for a few minutes, I entered their room to start over. It went
something like this, “Okay, Jesus is in here with y’all, but your brother is
not him…”
“Courage
is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”
-John
Wayne
