Month: April 2020

I am not a very patient individual. I have never been known for being someone who is willing to wait on an outcome. If I could, I would generally jump right to the end and wait for everyone and everything else to catch up to me.

It’s not that I know better, it’s really just that I am unwilling to wait. I’ve always been this way.

I remember being a little girl and how it took forever for holidays to arrive. I would stay awake at night as dates got closer, wondering how I could ever sleep again. Rather than being patient, I was actually anxious.

When I grew older, it turned into something else. I wanted the outcome that I wanted and I was not going to let things go to chance. I didn’t want someone else to step in and divert the expected outcome to something entirely different from what I wanted.

Of course, there were things that I could not control and that’s when anxiety would rear its head. I could be in a fever pitch by the time an event came to pass, whether or not it went the way that I wanted it to pan out. Even standing still and letting things happen seemed like I was falling backwards.

When I could, I would go out of my way to avoid those types of situations. I would rather deal with things that I could control instead of those that I could not.

Somehow, I don’t think that I am so unusual in lack of patience. At a guess, I would say that humankind is pretty much an impatient lot. There are certainly those who do have patience but I believe, based on what I have seen during my lifetime, that they are in the minority.

I’ve been struggling with this my whole life and in the last two years, I have learned that I cannot rush my recovery. I have to wait and scale back my expectations. There are always new goals to be met. When I first started my journey after being so ill, I would press my physical therapy and, as one might expect, I would overdo it and end up in a worse situation that I had been before.

I’ve been learning slowly to take each day as it comes. I can move forward but only at the pace that works and doesn’t hurt me (at least not that much!)

It’s funny but learning patience with the physical difficulties I have faced has spilt over into other areas of my life. I’ve learned to seek God in all things and to ask him when I should move forward more slowly or at a quicker pace.

Patience is a virtue and one that we should all strive for in our daily life. It isn’t intuitive, quite the reverse. It is difficult to learn and, once learned, even more difficult to hold onto.

While it is difficult, it is what we are to strive for. God wants us to be patient and to wait for his plan to unfold. This doesn’t mean sitting around and doing nothing. It means to do the work that God called us to do and to know that he is in control. We can’t control the outcome but we can, knowingly, do our part.

We have no need to rush things. There is no need to suffer anxiety. God’s plan will come to fruition at the exact right time in history.

Proverbs 14:29

Whoever is patient has great understanding,
but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.

It’s times like these, when the world seems to be falling apart, that Christians and others may ask, where is God in what is going on?

It seems like he has deserted us and is letting havoc reign. Nothing could be further from the truth.

God is right here. He is standing right beside each of us, whether we have given our lives to him or not.

He never promised that life would be easy. It was, before Adam and Eve sinned. Because of their sin, destruction entered into the entire creation.

God could have walked away. He could have destroyed everything and started over with something completely different.

Humans are frail and sin over and over and over again. Because of this, the world is going to be a place of grief and destruction.

What God has done, however, is not to walk away. Instead, he is walking right beside us. He will even carry his believers when they trust in him. Those who do not know and have a relationship with God are standing alone even though God is standing and waiting for them to reach out to him.

When Jesus, as God in human form, died and took the punishment for all sins ever committed in the past or in the future, he opened up and repaired what Adam and Eve had destroyed. He gave mankind the ability, once again, to have a direct relationship with God. When Jesus rose again from death, he gave mankind the hope of eternal life.

For those who believe in him, that hope is a surety.

For those who do not believe and trust in God, eternal death is waiting. The good news is that all you have to do is accept the gift that Jesus is giving to you, turn away from your sinful life and start living the life that Jesus has called you to.

Being a Christian does not make you perfect, it just means that you have a direct relationship with God. You will sin, probably many times over again. That is where the relationship with God is so important. You can ask for his help, through the Holy Spirit who lives in your heart, to give you strength to walk away from those sins and ask him directly for forgiveness.

Once you know God, you will find that he is always with you. It is true in bad times as well as good. He is always with you. You are not alone.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

At times, it feels like we are balancing on the edge of a precipice. Behind us is the safe land that we are used to. Ahead is uncharted territory and it seems like there is a possibility that the way forward is a steep fall into oblivion.

It’s normal to want to try to step back off the cliff and not to go into so much danger. This is something that happens again and again throughout our lives. The difference is that, right now, we are all experiencing this unbalanced feeling at the same time.

People throughout the world are scared and don’t know which way to turn for answers. Christians should know better but, it seems that, this huge step is frightening for most Christians as well.

We’ve never experienced something of this magnitude. There have been pandemics before but never something that is being covered by a 24/7 news cycle. The news sensationalizes everything about this virus as a way to both build ratings and to push their philosophical agenda.

Those Christians and others who are trying to inject a voice of calm are denounced as fools and worse. Why? Because being calm doesn’t build ratings and it doesn’t advance agendas.

Still, it is what it is. This is a devastating virus for many individuals who fall into at-risk groups. Even more troubling are that individuals outside the known risks have contracted it and have suffered greatly and/or have died. There are suppositions as to why that is happening but, as yet, no answers.

That makes most of us wonder if they or a loved one could become devastating ill if they catch it.

People are afraid of the future and want more than ever to return to normal. I’ve heard other Christians wish for this return to normal just this week. After I heard this, I got to thinking about the times when my life had been turned upside down in truly awful ways.

Notably, was when my son became ill at age 18 and passed away. It also happened when, at two different times, two of my nephews died. There is something so wrong about young people dying. It shakes the foundation of your beliefs and of what is right and what is wrong.

I know that I would have willingly taken the place of any of these three young men. I had lived a longer life and wanted that for them as well.

However, we aren’t given that choice. God has a plan and a purpose and he is revealing it in his time. When my son was ill and struggling greatly with a vicious form of leukemia, I asked him if he ever asked God why this was happening to him.

His answer was both sure and simple. He said, “No. God is using me just as I asked him to do.” When he gave his life to Jesus he asked God to use him to further his message. Having asked, he knew that God would, indeed, use him. He didn’t know how, when or where. However, he wasn’t going to rail against God for doing just what he had asked him to do.

Since that time, I have adopted the same attitude. I don’t ask why. When something seems to shatter my life, I stop and adjust, adapt and, with God’s help, keep moving forward.

Our life with Jesus is a race and we know that at the end of the race, heaven awaits us. We are to move forward and stop looking behind. What happened in the past is behind us and the future is wide open.

I’ve also learned that the “normal” that I have left behind in these different times of uncertainty were times when I had felt comfortable. Actually, I felt complacent. I was so on top of my game that I felt like I could control my world. I would begin to leave God out of the equation of my life.

When the shake-ups happened and I had to start over afterwards, I would move forward into a new type of normal. Looking back, I have realized every single time, that I would not want to go back to the me that I was before. I certainly would have wanted the three young men in my life not to have died but that wasn’t a choice I was given. It was out of my control.

What was in my control was me and my attitude towards God and towards my life. That is what I would never want to step back from. The future was better than what had come before. I was closer to God and I was being built into a person who could face life and adversity from a stronger point with a deepening dependance on my Lord and Savior.

The Bible tells us that, in the last days, God will pour out his spirit on all of mankind. If we are all experiencing a re-awakening of God and belief in the saving grace of Jesus, just imagine what can come of it! Just one person can make a huge difference but if millions or even billions of individuals break through and live for God in a stronger way, just imagine what can happen.

The thing that I am getting to is that up here on this edge that we are on, it isn’t really a cliff. It is a jumping off point. When this pandemic passes, as it will someday, we can either retreat to what we were before or we can trust God and leap forward into the new future he has waiting for us.

I know what I will be doing and, even now, I’m warming up to jump forward as far as I possibly can.

Philippians 3:10-14

I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

People’s lives are being upended. For many, they are having problems understanding what is going on. They feel lost and alone. They are searching for answers and meaning to why their safety and security is gone.

They are looking to the news and social media for answers. They are looking high and low. They are looking everywhere and anywhere in the world to get a solution to what is troubling them.

Looking at the world will never give them a good answer. There is nothing in this world that isn’t broken because of the sin of mankind.

There is really just one place to look for answers and that is to God. He created our universe perfect. We broke it by rebelling against him.

We are the ones who are responsible for all the brokenness, disease and troubles that we face. We are all guilty, every single one of us. Still, I feel most for the children. They are facing this crisis as well and have no idea what is going on.

They watch their parents, families and caregivers coming unglued and, sadly, are quite often taking the brunt of their anger. Domestic abuse is on the rise.

I don’t pretend to understand it. I was a victim of abuse, by my family, when I was a child. I know what it is like to have to hide from my mother or from my older brother. There is never an excuse good enough to make abusing your child, your spouse or an elder relation acceptable.

There are groups that are set up to help you. These groups are still working in this crisis. You can reach out to them by phone or internet.

Look for support groups. Your local churches will have individuals who can talk to you and provide help. Christians are ready. They will help you regardless of your religion or lack thereof.

This is happening to a wide range of individuals, including Christians. You should know that God doesn’t look kindly on those cowardly among us who hurt the weak and helpless. He does, however, forgive you when you repent of your sins and turn away from them. He can help you learn self-control but he has put into place people who can help you as well.

Don’t let the lack of security in life right now guide you into such acts of abuse. Look for help. If you are being abused or you know of someone who is being abused, don’t let fear of this virus keep you from reporting it. In times of stress violence escalates, it doesn’t diminish.

God is always there waiting. He wants to hear from you. He wants to fill your life with peace. I know from experience that knowing that God is control makes all the world of difference in stressful situations.

Let him show you his love and look to him for help.

Revelation 21:8

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.