How to Stand Firm When Life Smacks You in the Face
Some news shakes us and seems to tip the Earth off its axis.
News like:
You have cancer.
Your business is in trouble.
Your best friend is moving away.
Your mom died.
News that changes the direction of our lives, slaps us in the face, and wakes us from living on auto-pilot. While the sting of the slap lingers fear attempts to short-circuit our brains. We forget what we know to be true and we start to make plans to figure out a way to control our world knocked off its axis.
And in the world gone crazy moments we often let fear have free rein. We beat ourselves up with sticks labeled what-if and if-only. We forget:
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV
When we trust in God we are that tree, firmly rooted and provided for. We don’t have to worry about circumstances like heat or drought or cancer or loss of a job because we trust God’s plan and provision. This doesn’t mean that we won’t feel the fear, it just means that we don’t have to let it boss us around. We can tell the fear to take a hike because we are firmly rooted next to the spring of Living Water. We can trust His plans, His comfort in the midst of grief, His nearness when we are broken-hearted, and His tender mercies in the midst of it all.
Somehow when we turn our eyes to God and trust Him fear becomes impotent to send our minds racing. Instead the truth of God’s greatness, reminders of His work in our lives and the lives of others flood our brains. And fear may linger, but trust brings hope.
Father God too often when this fallen world slaps me in the face I allow fear to short-circuit my mind. Instead of trusting You I attempt to solve the issues in my power, not Yours. I cling to what I want rather than trusting in what You are doing in my life. Help me to let go of what I want and trust Your ways. Father may I always trust Your ways even when the sting of being slapped by life lingers. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.