We love to take long trips in our motorhome. It is a joy to explore our beautiful country, visit National Parks, and view the breathtaking scenery along the way. The journey is as much fun as the destination.
While we were getting ready for one of our travel adventures,we left the door to our motorhome wide open as we shuttled from the house to the RV stowing last minute items onboard before leaving on our camping trip.
Unfortunately, a little bird with a compromised sense of direction flew inside and zoomed around desperately trying to find his way out. We tried to help by chasing him, flailing our arms, and yelling. I guess we terrified the poor little creature. He escaped, but he left something behind, and it was all over our bed. When we recovered from laughing at the absurdity of the situation, we changed the sheets and headed for the open road just a little later than our originally estimated departure time.
Sometimes, people of faith live under the misguided perception that bad things will never happen to good people, especially if the good people happen to be us. But the truth is that life is chaotic, we will go through dark times, and sooner or later a messy bird of some kind or the other will swoop down unexpectedly into our tidy clean spaces. If we live long enough, eventually bad things, whether small and aggravating or huge and heartbreaking, will come our way. We can respond in one of three ways.
FIGHT. Look for someone to blame for our current woes. Get mad at other people. Get mad at God for allowing such a horrible thing to happen. Dump angry words with wild abandon on anyone in the path of our problem.
FLIGHT. Run away from the negative situation. Move. Avoid the person we disagree with, change jobs, change churches, change friends. Substitute busyness for solutions. Hide in our rooms feeling sorry for ourselves.
FAITH. Hold on to our faith to get us through whatever trauma comes our way. God is with us in the turmoil. He never gives up on us even when we give up on ourselves. He helps us in our time of need even when we tumble so far into despair that we cannot feel his presence. When our dreams are crushed, when we are broken and wounded, when bad things happen, we have no need to fear. The love of God the Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit are with us.
"I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither the present nor the future, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39 NIV
We can trust with absolute assurance that no matter what comes our way, God is with us. He holds us in the palm of his hand with tender grace and unconditional love. This is how we bloom. This is how we live a faith of hope and joy.
We can trust with absolute assurance that no matter what comes our way, God is with us. He holds us in the palm of his hand with tender grace and unconditional love. This is how we bloom. This is how we live a faith of hope and joy.
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