anxiety

It’s Ok

~ mercyfortheday ~ 1 Comment

I recently watched a video of America’s Got Talent from four years ago. A young woman singing under the name of Nightbirde sang an original song titled “It’s Ok.” But things weren’t really ok in her life. She had had cancer for several years and had been given only a two percent change of survival. Yet she lived with a life full of joy and happiness. She said, and I quote, “it’s important that everyone knows that I’m so much more than the bad things that happen to me.” And when she sang the words of her song, the calmness and confidence in her voice earned her the golden buzzer. She said that you don’t have to wait until your life is perfect in order to be happy.

And she’s right.

There was a look of astonishment on the face of each of the judges as they listened to her story. Those judges who had fame and fortune at their fingertips were very unsure of how to handle someone who was so calmly dealing with a life threatening illness. Little did they know at that audition that this young woman had only months to live. Oh. They gave her high praise, saying her performance was very powerful and authentic. They were touched not only by her voice, but also with her story.

You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy. That’s what she said, and she meant it. She lived through hard times, and yet she was glowing with peace and happiness. Knowing that she had only a two percent change of surviving the cancer that was ravaging her body, she lived well. And she lived forgiven.

This young woman was a child of God. She had laid her fears and faults and sins at the feet of her Savior, and he had forgiven her. She knew that if the ninety-eight percent chance of dying came true, she would spend eternity with Jesus Christ. And that’s where she is today. She’s in eternity. She didn’t let fear of the unknown diminish her joy.

I dare to ask myself. If I had a two percent change of surviving some horrendous disease, how happy and calm would I be? I’m not sure I can answer that today, because I haven’t been dealt that diagnosis. I don’t know how I would respond to a medical death sentence. Would I calmly look death in the face and keep moving forward? Would I fight back? Would I look for alternate treatments? Would I listen to my doctors? Would I stand strong in the face of pain and suffering? Would I shrivel up in the fetal position and not get out of bed? I don’t know.

And the song that she sang. It’s Ok. She believed it was ok that her life was falling apart. That there was a high probability she wouldn’t grow old. That she would lose her life before it ever really began. And she was ok with that? If I were in her shoes, would I be ok? I don’t know.

Her friend said that “Jesus is why Jane believed a painfully tragic life could still be worth living—that life could be beautiful even when the world came crashing down.” Do I believe that to be true? Absolutely, yes, I do.

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:2-3

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

We don’t have to be facing a death sentence in order for life to be difficult. We don’t have to be staring the end of life in the eye in order to be weakened by fear and the feeling of defeat. It could be getting up and going to a difficult job each day. Or, it could be facing a brand new situation that puts us way outside of our comfort zone. It could be a spontaneous moment when we are put on the spot and forced to defend our beliefs in a public setting. It could be a forced premature ending of a marriage we thought would survive until death us do part. It could be a financial crisis we’re facing. It could be the consequences of a very poor decision.

What I do know is that God is the God of the ages. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Everything that comes our way is ordained and approved by him. Just as he allowed Satan to sift the life of Job down to ashes, he could do the same to us without our consent. Will we still trust him? Will we, at the end of the day, say it’s ok that my life has fallen apart? Will we say that these grim circumstances that we face are worth every moment of suffering as we wait to stand in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?

There are many curves in the road of life as our faith is refined, and much of that is out of our control. Oh. We don’t have to sit back and watch life fall apart. We can do our part to pick up the pieces as we place our complete trust in God. As we come to learn through our times of suffering that the sole source of our strength is the Lover of our souls, we can look forward to eternity at the end of our days with calmness and confidence in our Savior.

In the midst of our suffering, can we sing to the God who is with us in our suffering? The song may not be joyful, but the joy of the Lord can remain in us even during those low days. We can have the joy of the Lord within us regardless of our circumstances. During our pain, we can sing songs of lament but we don’t have to wallow in it.

Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. 2 Corinthians 6:10

It Will Be Worth It All

Sometimes the day seems long,
Our trials hard to bear.
We´re tempted to complain,
to murmur and despair.
But Christ will soon appear
to catch his bride away!
All tears forever over
in God’s eternal day!

CHORUS:
It will be worth it all
when we see Jesus!
Life’s trials will seem so small
when we see Christ.
One glimpse of his dear face,
all sorrow will erase.
So, bravely run the race
till we see Christ.

At times the sky seems dark,
with not a ray of light;
We’re tossed and driven on,
no human help in sight.
But there is One in heaven,
Who knows our deepest care;
Let Jesus solve your problems,
just go to him in prayer.

Life’s day will soon be o’re,
all storms forever past;
We’ll cross the great divide
to Glory, safe at last!
We’ll share the joys of heaven:
a harp, a home, a crown;
The tempter will be banished,
We’ll lay our burdens down.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:1-6

Self-Induced Stress

~ mercyfortheday ~ Leave a comment

It’s true. Much of our stress is self-induced. We bring it on ourselves. Our minds work overtime and cause us to stew about things that will most likely never happen. And we just stir the pot of fear and what-ifs as if that’s all we have to do. I guess it’s important to ask ourselves why we’re stressing over something that may never happen. Have you actually sat down and calculated the risks? Have you listed both the pros and cons to see how they weigh on the scale of equality? Or, are you just giving yourself over to the fears of what if the unlikely really does happen?

I know. I’ve been doing the same thing for the past week or two. I don’t sleep well. I’m edgy. I’m easily distracted. And I just want this issue to go away. But the problem is that I’ve willfully and gladly created it. So now I have to live with the circus going on in my head. I don’t yet know how the situation will fully play out, so I must wait. I have high hopes and even higher expectations that all things will be right in the end. But there’s a small but mighty argument going on in my head that tells me something different could happen. Something could go terribly wrong. And am I prepared for that ugly scenario to be acted out in real life? No. I’m not.

Here’s what I have to tell myself. I can’t control the next crisis. And honestly. There may not be a crisis. Oh. My imaginings tell me there could be a crisis of magnificent proportions. But when I lay out the situation on paper I can see the likelihood that that happening is pretty small. So why do I fret? Why do I fear? Because I don’t know the outcome of the situation. And I don’t like surprises. So I have to conjure up in my mind all the possible scenarios to prepare myself for the worst. Even though they’ll probably never happen.

I’m sure I’m not the only person on this planet who prefers a calm and smooth life. Oh. I know there are some who enjoy the chaos of the unknown. There are some who instigate trouble wherever they go. They seem to always know how to cause a scene or stir up someone in their circle. But that’s not me. I prefer peace and tranquility. And right now, well, I do feel peaceful. But I’m short on tranquility.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7

The thing is. I do give my worries and cares to God, but then they seem to come creeping back to me. I find them swirling in my mind at different times of the day. Or when I’m lying awake in the middle of the night. It’s frustrating to be so anxious, but this anxiousness won’t last forever. It’s only for a season. I know that, so why can’t I just lay it all down and be done with it? Because when it’s all said and done, I really do trust God.

Just ask a pregnant woman if she is anxious-free for those nine months of growing another human in her own body. The positive pregnancy test. The morning sickness. The weight gain. The heartburn. The flutter of new life. The back aches. The unknowns of labor and delivery. The new wardrobe. The doctor’s appointments. The ultrasound. The birth plan. The name. The care of a newborn. The nursery. The financial burden. And then she must raise the child to adulthood. Talk about stress. But it’s a stressor that most women willingly choose to add to their resume of life.

Just ask a new employee on their first day of a new job. They’re in a position to start anew, sometimes willingly or sometimes forced. They’ve left the old and familiar. They’ve sat through numerous interviews. They’ve submitted to pre-employment screenings and tests. They’ve accepted an offer. Now they walk into their new job full of hopes and fears. They have no idea what lies ahead. But they do it willingly.

Life is full of unknowns. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow. Even when we choose to walk through new situations, God is with us. As long as we aren’t choosing to sin, God is walking with us through life’s changes. Even when we don’t know all the minute details, we can trust an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful God to go before us to chart the path and to go behind us to protect us. He is with his faithful followers as we walk through life.