Hi. We are the people of 2020. This is our story.
If ever there has been a time where collectively, we as a world find ourselves slipping and sliding, unable to find solid ground, this might well be it.
The pages of 2020 have unfolded into a story no one could ever have predicted or that any of us would believe possible or have chosen to be our story. Every page turned reveals a cliff hanger. We can’t stop watching and we can’t cheat and turn to the last page of the story to find out if our hero (ourselves) survive.
It’s one that would keep us up all night to get to the end of the story, lay the book down along with all its tales and walk away. Shaking our heads in disbelief, marveling at the incredible stories, leaving us angry at the injustices and afraid of the future.
These “stories” however, are our current life. This is now our world. This is now our story.
I remember when my forty something four kids were in elementary school, one of their favorite reads were the “choose your own ending” books. Readers were led through a chapter then got to choose what ending they would like and were directed to that page.
This is not that book.
Except I want you to join me as I look at the possibility it just might be that book.
I’m working on a new project. As I began to look at how I was personally responding to Quarantine 2020, I discovered I was able to apply many of the lessons I learned as I came out of the days of disaster relief for hurricane Katrina.
It wasn’t in the heat of the moment because the fire was hot. Until then it was the hardest year and a half of my life as everything I had ever believed in was challenged through the lens of human vs God.
At first, everything was about God. But very quickly I watched, helplessly, as man took over. A remnant fought hard beside me to shift the pendulum back to a balance where man worked for God.
Today, I watch as I see the same story unfolding. The times are different. The characters are different but I see a stunning similarity.
Man demands his own justice determined by his own perception. Everyone is screaming and shouting about their rights and their injustices. The noise is deafening in 2020.
Then I look at the weather and we in the New Orleans and surrounding areas are facing yet another storm. This time it is a couple. Double hurricanes Marco and Laura have us in their bullseye crosshairs. This will be an interesting week.
A side note here – I never ever wish a storm to go somewhere else. How precocious of me to wish harm on anyone else. I pray for our God to still the winds and calm the seas. Acknowledging His presence in the storm and how He holds us in His hand calms the interior storm deep in me.
The panic and drama surrounding the latest updates and the conversations focused on preparations can leave one in fear of the unknown.
Here’s what I’ve learned. The external storms are fierce and powerful. However, the interior storms are the ones we must pay attention to.
The difference?
External storms, whether forces of nature beyond our control, uncertain times that create fear feeding anger and our helpless feelings, bring depression and a smothering darkness. We must fight the physical storms as the spiritual being we are.
When daylight fades our response is to turn on the lights.
When I feel the darkness closing in – and I do at times – I turn to the source of Light that dispels all darkness.
Meet my creator God and His son Jesus, my redeemer. Also known as your Creator and your Redeemer.
Psalm 94:17-19
“If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, “My foot slips,” Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.”
There are many pages left to be written in 2020. None of us know the ending but we are not helpless. If you take away one message, let it be this.
The world’s message tells us we are helpless. The message of God assures us as we turn to Him that He is the calmer of storms and He is the eternal Light. We are not helpless.
It is there we can lay our fears and anger down at His feet. It is there we lay our burdens. We don’t lay them down and walk away.
We walk so close to Him that our every breath becomes a prayer.
When the walls are closing in on me, I stop, close my eyes and become still.
I take a deep breath asking God to come closer. (Because I have built walls and levees to keep Him at arm’s length.) Exhaling, I release the fear that has been building in me. I name it. I ask God to take away its power.
Today, the storms of 2020 and its fear of death and isolation and hurricanes Marco and Laura with their physical threat, are all bearing down. All bear the burden of uncertainty and fear.
Today, God waits for every one of us to breathe His name. To utter the name of our creator and redeemer calms the storms.
Lay your life down at His feet today. This is your lifeline as you maneuver through life on earth. Our journey gives us a choice just as the “choose your own adventure” books my kids read. I have made the choice of eternal life after my story writes its final page here on earth.
Here’s to finding gratitude in the lessons we have learned through the storms past and our confidence found in Christ as we face the storms yet to come.
“Lord, please come close. Hear our breath of prayer. Help us as we turn to Your Light from the darkness. Lead us Lord. These times are scary but we have incredible opportunities to show You to the world as we choose our responses. I love You, Lord. I love how I have seen Your hand in every storm I have survived. And, I have survived them all. Thank You Lord. Forgive us when we stay too long in the darkness. Thank you for Your grace and how You love us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”