“What are are you doing?”
It’s the question posed to me as soon as I answer the ringing of the phone.
I respond that I was watching a few minutes of the news. The voice on the other end tells me to shut it off as it is all so depressing. I respond it is good to be informed of what is going on.
The news would be hard to watch apart from the fact it truly brings the reminder of the One who is sovereign over everything which takes place.
One Scripture has been open for a few days:
“The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens
And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth,
He who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth,
The Lord is His name.”
(Amos 9:6, NASB)
We can try to fight the changes and at times, they will be too great for us to handle. We can easily become overwhelmed, the weight of all the changes can scare us into thinking we won’t be able to get through them all.
The prophet Amos reminds us of the greatness of our God whom we worship. He is the One who calls to the waters in the seas for He created those very waters. He alone controls the lengths to which those waters will go.
So what are we to do when we feel overwhelmed with the waters of life?
We are to trust in the goodness of God. He is in control of all that occurs in this world and He has never released His control.
We can determine to set our focus on God, and Him alone. We remind ourselves of His faithfulness, and the many times He helped us to navigate the challenges of life.
We bend our knees before Him, open our hearts to receive His guidance as we open His Word to receive His promises.
Perhaps Charles Spurgeon said it best:
“I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”
The challenges of life bring hard lessons for us to learn.
But God is ever with us, ever near,
and ever faithful.
Reflection:
We all experience “waves” which cause us to feel threatened. What can you do to remind yourself of the God who loves you and is faithful?
Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay
I miss the days when reading a good newspaper was a quiet, beautiful way to round out the day or start a quiet morning - the journalist in me misses that. Journalism changed in 1995 when the Society of Professional Journalist changed its by-laws and said that journalists could now be subjective - but of course, that had been going on for a while, noticeably for me around 1982 when USA today changed their wording for Pro-Life to Anti-Abortion. Today, instead of balance, it is more of "how do you react to that" kind of news parlance. I am thankful for on-line sources that seem to be source detectives for truth. I am learning not to take the bait to be so "keyed up" every day for every new "Emergency-Fear-Factor." I've even become sometimes skeptical of weather forecasters because frightful projections keep people obsessively turned in. I am trying to keep focused on Him and not the newsies. I love your quote, though: "“I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” How these challenging times grow our trust in Him! He never keeps us frantic - He wants us to trust in Him, to find shelter under His wings. Praying I go to His news pages this week more than the world's!
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