Even If
Have you thought much about what 2021 might bring?
I have often wondered about it myself. Will it bring good things, bad things, or a whole lot of both? 2020 was a very interesting year to say the least. I don’t feel the need to unpack it for you, because you have your own story to tell about how it affected you and those you love. I would like to say it was the most crazy, eventful year to date but I highly doubt that is really true. Tragedy has struck the world before and sent humanity into a tail spin (or should I say tale-spin). Many stories will be told of 2020 for generations to come.
I question a lot of “What if’s”:
What if 2021 isn’t better than 2020?
What if things get worse?
What if America can’t get its act together?
Happy New Years!
Those questions are pretty scary to me and I often wonder if I even want the answers for the sake of my own mental health. There is so much anxiety running rampant in our society and gluing ourselves to the news certainly doesn’t help.
How can we create a balance between staying informed and protecting ourselves from ______? (fill in the blank: loneliness, anxiety, hate, emotional exhaustion, confusion, desensitization, compassion fatigue, etc.)
I have reread a few of my previous blog posts and I am seeing a common thread- the gospel. I didn’t originally intend for this blog to be centered around faith elements every week, but for some reason- I can’t seem to leave it out of my writing these days. The reality is that I believe that people need good news, love, and hope. We need it more than ever. The world wants to preach fear, but I want the voice of love, hope, and joy to be louder.
Years ago, I was gifted a new Bible that was specifically made for notetaker’s like myself. I have loved this bible for years and it has traveled all over the world with me. I have highlighted, underlined, and written all over it. It is truly one of my most valued possessions. A few summers ago, my dad borrowed it for his personal devotion time while we were on vacation in Maine for a week. I didn’t notice this until later, but he had written something important in it for me to read later.
“We are the saints! We are the ministry!”
Caesarea Philippi, Israel
My dad has told me since I was a young girl that the pastors are there to equip us, not do the work for us. We are built up to be sent out- to be the hands and feet. That means doing the work. That means being the voice. How can you look into the eyes of someone who is hurting and deny them the chance for healing? How can you withhold the hope that has already been offered to them because it makes you nervous or uncomfortable to talk about it? What my dad meant in his two small statements written on the margins of my bible, is that it is so easy for us to want to put the responsibility of being a Christian on everyone else except ourselves.
As the world is hoping and praying that when the clock strikes 12 that all of our 2020 problems will disappear, we need to realize something. It is very possible that 2021 might bring just as much devastation. We just don’t know. I don’t say this to be a downer or to expect bad things. In fact, I believe in the power of prayer. BUT, I say this to remind us that while we pray in faith… we must also say that EVEN IF- it doesn’t get better… we will continue to trust God.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of the 3 young Jewish boys who were faced with a choice to either obey the king’s decree and bow down to an idol along with the rest of the kingdom or stand against the idol worship and be thrown into a furnace. A really intense event (I highly recommend reading it!). These boys were standing at the edge of their death and said:
“King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
And they were spared…but not in the way we would have expected. They were thrown into the furnace, but the fire did not kill them. In fact, they walked out of the furnace without a single spec of ash on them. 2021 may be that way. The fire may not be put out. We may have to walk through it, but God is faithful to save us from destruction. One of my favorite parts of this story is that when the guards looked into the furnace they didn’t see three people, but four! Jesus was in it with them. We do not have to walk through the fire alone.
There is a reason why some Christians struggle with surrendering to God when it seems like He isn’t answering our prayers the way we want Him to. This is because we can get stuck in wanting results instead of wanting Him. Sometimes when we don’t understand WHY, we need to trust the WHO. In order to trust anyone, it often requires time and experience. When we do not invest into a relationship- why should we expect to naturally trust that person? But when you create a foundation where you know that person to be faithful and reliable, it will become easier to have peace in your heart in times of trouble because you have experienced their faithfulness before. It is the same way with God except He will never fail. He will never forget you or leave you.
All this to say that -
EVEN IF the voice of fear seems loud, let the voice of hope be louder.
EVEN IF we have to walk through the fire, we are not alone.
EVEN IF we don’t understand the why, trust the Who.
