I wonder how quickly we panic when worries arise, how desperate we are to fling fearful or troubling situations away like a spider on our arm or speed past it, eyes squeezed tight, or ask Alexa how to fix it NOW, how desperate we are to be free of the stress and worry they cause. And why not? We’re human, we were made to feel all the feels. Even a Vulcan would agree (just a guess) that panic, fear, and denial are logical.
But what if, after we ask God to help or to heal, we pause for a heartbeat or two in silence instead of panic, and instead of giving into the urge to fling it away or numb it with a quart of Häagen-Dazs or flee from it, we tell our Maker that this troubling, painful, nasty thing is no surprise to him and is certainly not impossible for him to handle, and that if he wants to use it (and li’l us) to show his goodness, power, love, and faithfulness to the precious broken, then we will place this thing into his trustworthy hands and tear our gaze away from it and gaze instead at him.
I wonder what would happen if, instead of worry, we spent all our energy keeping our eyes fixed on God’s lovely face.
I don’t doubt that he can answer my prayers, but that belief doesn’t always stop the worry or the re-hashing or the strategizing to solve it.
Here’s a crazy thought: What if, instead of resistance, we welcomed that grief or that fearsome thing, just a little bit, and try to see it not as an obstacle but as potential, try to embrace the opportunity it is for God to move in amazing, miraculous ways and in so doing, maybe help another hopeless, fearful soul find the hope and help and peace that is found in him.
I wonder.
2 Corinthians 12:10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Camille Eide
Along The Banks 