God Reaches Out
When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your unfailing love, LORD supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your
consolation brought me joy.
– Psalm 94:18-19
Some days are just hard. Do you know what I mean? A
child gets sick. Nothing major but it sure does rearrange your day. The grass
needs mowing – again. A vehicle breaks down and you’re faced with an unexpected
bill. The list goes on and on.
It’s nothing major. It feels selfish to whine about it
all. A little girl is in Birmingham fighting for her life. A dear man in
Florida is grieving his constant companion and facing a void he isn’t prepared
to face. Another man lost his job and desperation creeps in. How will he
provide for his family? There are things that put ordinary challenges into
perspective.
Life just feels overwhelming sometimes. There is so
much to do. The hours seem few and the labor feels long. I am tired. How about
you? Do you ever find yourself just getting through the days, afraid to look
beyond because you can’t see anything different? That’s scary. Will it always
be this way?
Our joy comes from the Lord. The Bible says so and I
believe what it says. I feel guilty. Where is my joy? The birds are chirping outside
my window this morning. I have bird houses and bird feeders everywhere it
seems. My Mother loved to watch the birds and now I do too. On good days, a red
bird brightens the day. A visitor from heaven is what they say.
Today is another beautiful day. The sun shines
brightly. Not too hot and not too cold. The kind of perfect day we’ll be dreaming
of when summer comes our way. It is hot here in the South. Humid hot. So
perfect days are a treasure. Why am I sad?
Every day I awake and soldier on. I imagine you do as
well. There are animals to tend and chores to do. There is a living to be made.
I don’t know how to rest anymore. How about you? Is your day so filled with
obligations and activities that there is no time to sit, to think, to
contemplate, to simply enjoy the day that God has given to us?
We are busy. All of us are. Children have school and
activities seven days each week. Their parents are right there in the middle of
it all. Those who are retired find themselves busier than ever before. There is
no end in sight. We fill our days and nights with things that seem necessary
and yet we wonder why we are so empty inside.
God told us to rest. We will, we promise. As soon as
all the chores are done, as soon as the children are grown, as soon as we enter
another season of life. But each season brings its own challenges and we find
that we don’t rest there either. We have forgotten what it means to be still
before God. We don’t know how to embrace the small things because we’re so
focused on getting through yet another day.
Another hard day. When does it get easy? It doesn’t.
Not words you wanted to read. Truth is neither pleasant not inspiring but it is
necessary. We alone make the choice to slow down, to say no, to take time to be
with God in quiet stillness. We can rush along at the world’s pace or we can
slow down and rest in God’s embrace. Our choice. We’re all slipping away in our
busyness. Reach out to Him. God is waiting to grasp your hand and bring you
safely to a place of rest.
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