Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
Today is a very gloomy day for me because I'm getting ready to go back to college. The worry, stress, and nervousness have already kicked in. I feel panicky, irritable, and anxious all at once. My heart is racing as I write this, and so is my mind. This semester will be so full. How am I going to thrive—or at least survive?
I have a friend, Taylor*, who always wants to do the next exciting thing in her life but never seems to be content in the present. When she started high school, she wanted to find a boyfriend. When she found a boyfriend, she wanted to get her driver’s license. When she got her driver’s license, she wanted to get married. I've struggled to understand why Taylor always seems so eager to move onto the next thing—until I realized that I'm a lot like her.
We can blame our bad habit of chronic worrying on our circumstances by claiming that they merit our worry. But to be blunt, all of our worries (including mine) have doubt at their core.
To be honest, this summer wasn’t easy for me. It was a rollercoaster of anxiety, happiness, fear, discouragement, excitement, frustration, eagerness, and doubt. But I’m still here. I survived the summer of 2018. And I learned a few life-changing lessons along the way.
However, Christianity is different. It says, “Everything is going to be okay” and can promise a bright future. Maybe that future won’t come today or tomorrow, but hope is indeed in our future. In fact, we can have that hope today.
We expect our issues and struggles to disappear for exciting events and occasions. We think that we can whisk the pain out of our minds to focus on these special occurrences. Or perhaps we have come to realize that our expectations will usually fail us.
As frustrating as sleeplessness may be, we can learn to be content in it for one reason alone: God is with us through it. Whether we're awake or asleep, He still loves us and desires our obedience. He is protecting us. He is holding us. He is shaping us. Even in sleeplessness. This poem is for the insomniacs, the tired, and the weary.
I drove away from our church pondering the reality that I may never see him or his family again. I can’t remember specific events that impacted me so much. I just know that he and his family have impacted my church and desired to help us grow closer to God. He wasn’t supposed to leave so soon. He was supposed to stay at my church forever…right?
Have you ever prayed and felt like God didn’t listen to your whole prayer? I have. I have received totally different answers than the ones I prayed for and I have wondered if God didn’t listen to my whole prayer. But you know what? I think we feel this way sometimes because we have some misconceptions about prayer. Sometimes we can get so focused on how we think answers to our prayer should be, that we forget who God is.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 