I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard a lot of Christians lately encouraging me not to worry. Over the radio, over social media, over the television, via text, and in-person.
It’s a good reminder. Don’t worry. Don’t be anxious. Worrying won’t add a single day to your life. Not only that, but the depth and breadth of your worry is a sort of opposite-reflection of the depth and breadth of your faith.
Times are hard right now. It’s easy to stand in the shadow of fear, panic, and anxiety. Why? Because fear, panic, and anxiety are everywhere. E. V. E. R. Y. W. H. E. R. E.
I’m not here to tell you not to worry, though. You’ve already heard it, and I’m sure you’ve heard it by people way more eloquent than me.
Today we’re going to talk about something different.
I came across the tenth verse of Psalm 143 this morning, and it grabbed me. The psalmist is fleeing from an enemy and is asking God to intervene. He’s begging for help. Then, right smack in the midst of his plea for deliverance, he says this:
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground!
There’s a lesson in there. Probably several, but I’ll focus on two. (1) No matter how impossible or painful life gets, we can turn to God for help. (2) No matter how impossible or painful life gets, we should want to do God’s will.
Most of us know the first one, right? We’ve been there and done that. When life is hard, we turn to God for help. Hopefully, our turning to Him is part of a regular habit. It’s much easier to turn to God during difficulties if we’re already used to doing so. I’ve been known to say that faith is like a muscle – you need to exercise it on a regular basis in all the little ways so that it’s strong enough to handle the big stuff that comes along.
Most of us also know that we should seek to do God’s will. I think, though, that we can forget that in the midst of the current crisis. We tend to hunker down and switch into survival mode when life hits us with a brick wall…and then keeps pouring more bricks on.
Some of us are on lockdown and discouraged from leaving our homes. Some of us are suddenly homeschooling children that were only recently going off each morning to the school house. Some of us are working from home when we have no idea how to use the technology. Some of us are ill or have loved ones who are fighting for their lives.
It seems like those bricks just keep coming one right after the other. We can barely get our breath from one hit before the next one comes barreling toward us. It’s hard, sometimes brutal.
Right there in the midst of those bricks raining down on our heads, though, we should still want to do God’s will. If we’re lost and confused about what that might look like, we can turn to Him. Like the Psalmist, we can ask God to teach us how to do His will. The Bible’s a great place to learn what God wants for you. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that Scripture is the best place to get to know God and what He desires for your life.
I’m going to share a small little piece of God’s will with you today. I could tell you that we’re called to suffer with Christ or that it’s God’s will that we die to self and pick up our cross to follow Christ. Those are both true. This is the one I want to leave you with today, though:
“…always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:15b-18)
Isn’t that a good note on which to end today’s post?
Seek to do good to others.
Rejoice.
Pray.
Give thanks.
And do those things no matter the circumstance. That means even when the bricks are pouring down, the sun on our faces is a distance memory, and better days feel like they’re so far away that we may never see them again. Yes, even then.
You’re in my prayers today.
In the meantime, if you’ve found a creative way to do good to others during this pandemic, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Heather Gray loves coffee, God, her family, and laughter – not necessarily in that order! She writes approachable characters who, through the highs and lows of life, find a way to love God, embrace each day, and laugh out loud right along with her. And, yeah, her books almost always have someone who's a coffee addict. Some things just can't be helped. Despite their different lives and situations, Heather’s characters have something in common. They're all flawed...but loved anyway.
Thank you for your wonderful and encouraging words, Heather.
I look at it as God gave us free will. So we choose. We are human and our bodies are hard wired for survival so no amount of self discipline gets us out of anxiety and worry because it’s hard wired. If we have faith then we can choose our suffering, some we would choose like grief of the loss of a loved one, but we can also choose to stay safe at home, to put in place coping skills/strategies, choice creates freedom and freedom negates suffering. Like the old joke where God agreed to the Minister winning the lottery to provide for him in his retirement, and he complained to God he hadn’t won and God’s response was well I can’t do everything you needed to buy a ticket! Thanks for a great post :)
Great post! When I go shopping, I still smile at people, talk to others, though it seems some are not. They just go in, get what they went for, and can’t wait to get out. It’s like even to talk to others is wrong. We still need to show we care, and that we’re there for others, and I try to do that. Just being nice to the cashiers is a huge step in the right direction, because some people have been very rude to them, since they can’t find products they need.
Just want to add, one thing I’ve done since this happened is get take out from one restaurant once a week, as my budget allows, to help them stay in business. And, I still tip 20%, because some people aren’t tipping at all, and the ones working are getting the little that they got working as a waitress before, minus tips. That’s just not enough, so tipping is still happening from me!
Amen! Great post, Thank you!!
Thanks for that message.
Love this! Thank you.
I’m glad you could stop by today Marion – thank you!
Thank you for visiting the blog today Dianne! You’re absolutely right that we have choices! Passages like the one in 1 Thessalonians tell us what God wants us to do regardless of the situation or circumstance. It is His will that we do good to others, that we rejoice, that we pray, that we are thankful. We can certainly choose to do those things or not, but within that framework, we can also choose how we go about doing those things. What does it look like to do good to others? You and I probably live that out in entirely different ways. Not only are our contexts different because we live in different areas, but we also have different personalities and skills. :-)
Amen! People who work in grocery stores and other stores that sell household items are getting the brunt of everyone’s displeasure right now. They’re doing everything they can to see to it that our needs are met (not to mention, they’re trying to feed their families!) and yet are treated kind of abominably by the frazzled and stressed out customers. That stress – and even the fear that a lot of people are feeling right now – often comes across as anger, and those folks who work in customer service are on the receiving end of that anger far more than they should be. So you’re right – just simply being kind and smiling is kind of a huge thing right now. That little act of kindness gives other people hope for humanity and can often turn someone’s sour day around to one that’s a lot closer to pleasant. Kudos to you!
We’ve been doing the same thing! Granted, I shop around for where the specials are running, but we’ve been getting takeout about once/week to support our local businesses. It has the added benefit of giving me a day where I don’t have to think about what groceries I have and what I can make out of them. ^_^ And you’re absolutely right – tipping is important! I’m one of those people who says that if you can’t afford to tip, then you can’t afford to eat out. It’s easy for us to forget about tipping when we’re picking up our own food and not being waited on like we’re used to, but it’s still important to the employee who is making $2/hr + tips. That $2/hr (or whatever it might be) isn’t a livable wage no matter how good you are at stretching your money.
I’m glad you could stop by today Paula!
Thank you for visiting today Merrillee!
I hope you’re having a marvelous day, Valerie! :-)
Thank you, Heather, for such an encouraging reminder. As is so often true in the Christian life, we live in a dynamic balance. On the one hand, we hear our heavenly Father say, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” and “Beneath are the everlasting arms”. On the other hand we are given the calling to be like our savior, to choose to exercise our gifts for the glory of God. What wondrous love we read in the story of our salvation.
It’s small, but I had a surplus of Clorox wipes from a national contest win, so I have shared them with friends.
Amen! What comfort and peace we find when we know that we are resting in those everlasting arms. Thank you for sharing!
It may seem small, but to some people, that’s huge. At a time when people are fighting over the most basic items at the grocery store, willingly giving away something that could help keep people safe and healthy – that’s a big deal, and it’s the sort of thing that can make a difference to someone. Thank you for sharing (your story and the wipes)! :-)
In the past month, I have picked up a few “paid for in advance, curbside service” items and (while still protected & being “careful”) purpose to be encouraging to them – especially the small businesses. On my fb post, I’ve also been purposing to only post positive, funny, encouraging memes & videos. IMO Life around us is Real enough. A few “friends” have thanked me for my upbeat posts. We never know what small kindnesses might make a difference.