This past week has been difficult. We are being bombarded with bad news. Division and strife abounds. Our whole world is sin ravished and sick, not just the United States. For people of the Bible this should not come as a surprise. However, it can be disheartening and overwhelming. Back in the day there were no instant news sources alerting us of breaking news twenty-four hours a day. (Perhaps ignorance was bliss!) There were no social media platforms with people continually voicing their opinions and arguing with one another. Add it all together and no wonder peace is hard to find and confusion seems to reign! Hopelessness, despair, depression and anxiety have become common struggles.
May I suggest that in order to survive, and even thrive in these trying times, it is important to be extremely discerning about the voices you are listening to. Psalm 62:5 says, "My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him." Let's break this verse down and see if it can help illustrate the point I am trying to make. First of all, our soul is our mind, will and emotions. What we feed our mind affects our emotions and eventually our choices. As the world gets louder and more confusing, it's good, necessary even, to pull away, wait on God, and submit to Him and His voice. It's all too easy to submit to what the news says, submit to what this author or Facebook friend says, submit to what this politician says or that talk show host says. By letting what they say fill our minds and mess with our emotions we are silently submitting to them. No wonder our mind gets muddled and our emotions get frayed! When we pull away and spend time with God, feeding our soul with His presence, worship, and the Word, all of the bad news that surrounds us comes into proper perspective. We realize that God is still on the throne and actively doing great things on the earth...things you probably will never see on a breaking news report. We realize that we are still in God's more than capable hands. We realize that there really is a future and a hope for those who seek God. As we silently submit our mind, will and emotions to Him, hopelessness, despair, depression and anxiety begin to give way to hope and expectation.
I'm not saying that we should bury our heads in the sand and not keep up with current events. We should, indeed, be well informed citizens. We should also be filled with discernment about where we get our information and research things we hear and read to make sure they are accurate. Then we should take that information to God in prayer, being alert to any action He lays on on our heart that He wants us to take. There is also a time, however, to turn all the tumult off. Jesus, our example, left the needy and hurting crowds behind to get away, to rest, to pray, to listen to His Father's voice, and to submit Himself to His Father's will. If the Son of God needed to do that, then surely we need to do the same. I think our survival in these tumultuous times depends on it.
still following,
Elizabeth, so grateful you shared this verse from Psalm 62 today. A wonderful reminder for me for so many reasons today!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that "There is also a time, however, to turn all the tumult off" especially after casting it to the Lord in prayer so that we can rest in Him regardless of what is going on around us.
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