I don’t know. I just don’t know. There is so much going on in the world right now and then the Minneapolis chaos hits.
It can be overwhelming. I don’t think my heart even knows how to respond. I just know there is a deep ache in my chest and as the drama continues to unfold there is a temptation to be drawn down. Can we ever overcome it?
It’s an unlikely verse to trigger such emotion. The signing off of a letter to a friend. But I can feel John’s affection in the words; I relate to his longing to be together. If I had to rewrite them for today, the words would say:
“I have so much to say to you but I don’t want to do it over Zoom or FaceTime anymore. For weeks, seeing your faces and hearing your voices was enough, but now I want to sit with you and chat. I want to hug you. I want to be with you in person. That will be a joyful day!”
As I catch the vibes of fear starting to leak into society and those I love, I feel that the most important thing we can do this week is to stay positive. We have control over our minds and attitudes. Here are some practical tips.
It’s quite ironic that after I wrote about making rest a priority, all chaos reigned. Things out of my control pressed down on all sides taking power over my time. It’s also ironic that after several weeks of juggling, the message on Sunday was about making rest a priority. Hmmm…Did the pastor read my blog post? LOL. I doubt it! Is God maybe trying to remind me?
and on the 7th day God rested.
He rested.
He didn’t need to. He chose to. The day of rest is part of the seven days of creation. There were not six days; there were seven. The actual rest is part of the work. When God created, and said, “It is good,” the rest was part of that. Rest is good.
I’ve seen many people use the month of November to list things they are thankful for, but do we abandon that in December just in time for the chaos of preparing for a holiday that is supposed to be peaceful?
What would God see if he looked in our hearts? Are we so consumed with outward appearances or qualities or talents that we neglect our hearts?
Autumn.
It was a time when the standard answer to “How are you?” was “In a time of rest. I feel like we are in between crisis times and need to rest in this season.” It was only a few years ago, but it feels like a lifetime ago.
In the story of our lives, we often have page-turning moments. Those moments when we are leaving one chapter of our lives and entering another. Those page-turning moments are bittersweet as we have excitement toward the next page, but we are looking longingly back toward what has been.
Sometimes the simplest things are the most life-changing.
