A few mornings ago, I woke up overwhelmed. Still under the covers, with my eyes barely open, I felt weary and unsettled. My mind was rattled, and anxiety was high. My whole body felt sad.
I woke up thinking about people who are going through such extreme tragedy in this season. I’m sure you’re feeling some of the same emotions.
Hurricane devastation that is hard to fully imagine for those of us who aren’t experiencing it.
People – human beings like you and I who have/had dreams and families and celebrations of joy – in places of war who are experiencing fear and total destruction of anything that resembled their lives.
Families and friends who are waiting for the diagnosis, treatment results, the money to come in, or who just need a big dose of hope in their really tough season.
Life is really hard for some.
And I didn’t know how to fix it. 🙄
We all just want the pain and devastation to disappear, don’t we? If only we could make the wars, storms and life’s crises stop.
And yet, we can’t. We can’t fix, control, or make them go away.
That’s what was eating away at me in that early morning wake-up.
And this is what I did to regain my balance, reframe my thinking, and find hope once again …
I kicked back the covers, pulled my sweater over my head, and went to my blue chair where I could sit and have a heart-to-heart with THE ONE who can make all things new.
Hope returned with these two reminders from our gracious, loving Heavenly Father:
First. The most powerful tool, anecdote, response to storms, wars, and crises is prayer. Think about it. How many times in the Bible is God teaching us, commanding us, encouraging us, to bring our cares and concerns before Him? Why? Because He hears them – bends His ear to them – and moves. Nothing is too big for Him. Our prayers matter. We can make a difference in the lives of those grieving moms and homeless children by praying.
You may have read Psalm 23 a thousand times. I encourage you to read it again. Out loud. As a prayer for yourself AND for our friends, families, and weary human beings who need a touch from the Almighty God. Make it personal. Use names, countries, situations.
You can’t solve all the problems in the world. But you better believe you can pray. And prayer changes things.
So. When it comes to the situations where my access and influence seem so minimal? I will pray.
The second reminder.
I cannot hug the grieving mothers in Ukraine and Russia, or rock to sleep the starving children in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, or Lebanon. Visiting places destroyed by forest fires or hurricanes is not an option right now.
BUT. I can show up for my neighbors. The people in the church pew next to me. Friends who share their hurts and worries. The readers of my words and women who hear God’s messages through me.
God has put people in front of me—in front of you—who have cares and hurts and pain we can’t begin to comprehend. And we can do something for them.
During the last few weeks, I’ve spoken with two amazing groups of women in Centerville, WI and Jamestown, ND. These women are not waiting for someone else to step up and do something. They are praying over world events. They are bringing the food, the needed items, offering resources.
These women understand that God has good things planned for all of us. And sometimes – often – we can bring that goodness. They understand that it is time to get up and go. To do something.
You can do something for the people God has placed right in front of you. You don’t have to look around and figure out who it might be. Just go through your friends’ faces in your mind. Someone in those memory pictures needs the encouragement, bag of groceries, extra cash, cup of coffee, that you can offer.
My conversation with God from my blue chair reminded me that situations are not hopeless. God redeems and restores. AND He shows us what we can do: PRAY. Donate. Give. Show up. Get up and go.
We don’t need to wring our hands swirling in emotional chaos.
We get on our knees in prayer.
Then we get on our shoes and show up.
This is the time. We can do something.
