Last night at dinner, my wife was sharing with me her fears and struggles of weighing her love of teaching with the fears of contracting COVID-19. Should she continue teaching or should she quit? She recounted the list of all the recent people in the news that had passed away from the disease and projected the emotional impact it would take on her daughter and granddaughters in the event she contracted the disease and ultimately passed away! (Yes…that was our dinner conversation…) She was distraught and bound by the fear of the possibility of…regardless of its likelihood and ultimate effect.
My wife is not alone in her fears.
After listening to her talk and get increasingly “wound up”, I finally had to ask, “where’s your faith?”
Her response was, “I have faith, but I also want to be wise.” I agreed and asked her where she looked for that “wisdom.” She was quiet. I knew the answer…TV.
Today, I finished reading the entire Bible cover to cover for the 16th time. It’s been a daily practice and one of the reasons I get up at 3:45 am each working day and get to work…to spend time with God. It’s critical for me to start each day aligned and close to what I believe the will of God is for me in my life. I never want to start a day going in a direction God doesn’t want me to go. Reflecting on my conversation with my wife, I reminded of a couple of things:
- Fear and Faith cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Just like light and darkness. It must be one or the other…our choice.
- Nothing in this life is a surprise to God. He’s not going to say, “Oh crap, I didn’t see that coming!”
- He offers us His presence. Yet so many of us decline the offer…even believers!
I picture God is holding an umbrella and He invites us to come in out of the rain, come in out of the fear, come in out of the uncertainty, and to stand protected, dry, and safely close to Him. Yet, many choose to stay out in the rain and get wet.
Even when there is no storm, His umbrella offers protection from the heat of the sun and its long-term damage. When things are “going good” for us, when we are healthy, when we have enough money, when we apparently “don’t need Him” is really when we do! He offers us the umbrella that provides His wisdom, His grace, His forgiveness, and His peace…the things we all need to build as our foundation, but rarely reach out for it until there is a storm.
And I believe a storm is coming.
With all that is happening in our world, I honestly believe that we are in for some difficult days ahead.
Our world, our country our families, and our friends are on two distinct sides of the fence. We both believe we are right and we both believe the other side is bad or stupid. We are repeatedly being told what we are to believe and how we are to act. And we do…because we “trust” it is in our best interest…but what if it’s not? How would we know?
I don’t have the answers. But we know the one that does. Yet we rarely ask!
Back to my conversation last night with my wife. She was struggling with what she should do considering all her fears and what she had received from the news reports. So, I asked her, “what did God say you should do?” She was quiet. She hadn’t asked…
I pray that in the days to come…we all would change that. Ask! Each day! For what to do that day!
I shared with her that I only knew one thing. I knew that each day of my life I was going to make sure I began each day under what I believe was the will of God. I didn’t care what that looked like as long as it was what I believed was His will. Regardless of what happens or what is happening with me, to me, or around me…I was going to stay under that umbrella…and as close to the one holding it as possible.
You’ve been invited in to join me…come on in…there’s plenty of room.