Exodus 23:25-26
Worship only me, the Lord your
God! I will bless you with plenty of food and water and keep you strong.
Your women will give birth to healthy children, and everyone will live a
long life.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
My
mother-in-law has been going through old photo albums and
journals...many that belonged to her mother and her aunts and uncles. In
some of these, there are accounts of the 1918-1919 flu pandemic and its
effects. Greg’s family hails from Iowa. I have heard about the 1918 Flu
Pandemic most of my life...ancestors of mine succumbed to it in rural
Arkansas communities just east of where I live today, including four
people in one family alone who died over the course of a couple of days.
I had not realized that this was such a widespread “event”, but
information at http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/index.html
explains that this deadly outbreak covered not only much of the United
States – but Europe, as well, since soldiers were traveling back and
forth to fight in the war, and they carried the flu with them. I’ve
heard my grandparents and other relatives share recollections (a few
firsthand!) of how no one dared to even try to go to a home and care for
the sick, for fear that they would also become ill with the virus.
Burying the dead was a challenge...many people were too sick to even dig
the graves for those who had perished.
I share this as a way of
way of demonstrating that hardships are nothing new. If you think you
or your family has it rough...if you think you have been given “too much
to handle”...consider that you probably don’t have a corner on that
market! So why do your problems seem bigger than those of others? It
may have more to do with where your focus and your worship lie than what
is actually happening to you.
In a crazy twist of events that
can only be described as a “God thing,” I became friends with Veronica
Squef, a young woman who lives in Massapequa, New York – a community on
Long Island. Veronica’s husband, Keith Glascoe, was a firefighter who
lost his life on 9-11-2001. Veronica and Keith had two boys, Nolan (age
2), and Owen (age 1). She was pregnant with their third child – Keith,
Jr. – who was born in April 2002. I have never met Veronica and her
boys in person, but we correspond frequently through the mail and via
Facebook. I asked her one day...”What is your secret? How have you
survived this all?” She replied that her boys were her focus...that
every day she reminded herself that “you have three boys who are
counting on you”...and this motivated her to put one foot in front of
the other and keep going. Now I ask you...Who do you think whispers
this encouragement to her each day and undergirds her efforts?
Focus
is the key. We can focus on God and trust Him to bless us...to feed
us...to keep us healthy and strong...to give us the courage and energy
to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Or we can wallow
in our struggles and sorrows – and we ALL have them – and have a giant
pity party. We can pretend that we are the most persecuted person on the
planet, wring our hands and cry, “Why ME, Lord?!”...and flounder in the
“wilderness” of misery and defeat.
Like so many things in
life...this is our choice. But it doesn’t have to be so. Regardless of
what we face today, God can help us handle things. We need to stop and
fully recognize how incredibly – and abundantly – we are loved and
nurtured by God. We need to start focusing on His tremendous gifts and
the amazing power of His care and blessings. We need to shift our focus
from our own selfishness and pity to the compassionate, merciful
sacrifices of Jesus for each of us – and how we can glorify His ransom
and shower Him with our praises and service.
Choosing life in
Christ...and an emphasis on worshipping God in all things and at all
times...will not guarantee that every day will be a bed of roses and all
of your problems and challenges will disappear. But this shift in
attention and motivation invites God to share the burden... to heal your
heart, mind and soul...and to carry you when you cannot walk on your
own. Don’t you want this? Isn’t He worth it? Where will you choose to
direct your focus? Who do you truly worship?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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