Psalm 46:10
Our God says, “Calm down,
and learn that I am God!
All nations on earth
will honor me.”
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
This
morning, I stood in the shower and thought about the events that
unfolded in our world in the last 24 hours. And I made a very profound promise to God …”I will not ask…”
- I will not ask…why my
husband’s brother endured surgery for prostate cancer in late July that
brought a lengthy recovery, only to be involved in a deadly car crash
just before Christmas.
- I will not ask…why my
brother-in-law had to go through three surgeries for four bowel
resections, a concussion, stroke and fractured sternum – and all of the
tests, procedures and indignities that came with this, only to die ten
days later.
- I will not ask…why my 66-year-old
brother-in-law and his family members had to suffer through rounds of
cardiac arrest, when death was the ultimate outcome.
- I will not ask…why my 89-year-old mother-in-law had to lose her middle son.
- I will not ask…why my own mother continues to decline with cancer that seems to be rapidly overtaking her body.
- I
will not ask…why in the midst of all of this, Greg and I caught a
respiratory bug that pretty well knocked us to our knees for about a
week each.
- I will not ask…why others are sick, suffering, grieving…why wars are being fought and orphans have no home.
- I
will not ask…why people are struggling with addictions, homelessness,
money woes, discrimination and injustices of all kinds…and so much more.
I cannot
ask these questions…because every time I do, I hear God clearly saying,
“What if JESUS had asked why He had to suffer for you?” I hear Him
say, “How do you think what you are enduring could possibly compare in
the least to that?!” And I am stopped dead in my tracks.
I hear
God saying, “Don’t you think I am with you, even now? Do you really
know who I am?” And I am instantly humbled…and comforted…and blessed.
Even in the middle of such chaos, God wants me to calm down…to “be still
and know” that He is God – and He can handle all of this without any
input from me!
I have no clue what 2016 is going to bring our
way. But I know that we are going to get through every bit of it,
because of God. When I kissed Greg goodnight and wished him a Happy New
Year, my heart ached for him. I know the emptiness of losing a
brother…we’ve been down the road of watching a parent suffer from a
lengthy illness. I comforted my 80-something grandmother when my dad –
her only son – died at the age of 63.
In the last several days,
I’ve had my moments...but for the most part, I have been relatively
calm. And people have asked, “How are you doing that?” My answer is
simple…”I’m not…God is.” What about you? Who is holding you close
today and keeping you calm? Isn’t it time you knew?
©2016 Debbie Robus
Psalm 94:19
Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
Earlier this week, I shared
a video on Facebook by Francine Christophe, a then-8-year-old French
Jewish girl who was held as a prisoner of war in the Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp in northern Germany during WWII. The main theme of
Christophe’s story centered around two pieces of chocolate that her
mother had carried with her to share on a day “when I see you have
completely collapsed and really need help.” I urge you to use the link I
have provided and watch this video for yourself. See how God
orchestrated so many events – even decades after the war ended!
I
share this story with you to say this…we all have doubts. At times,
our hearts are all in turmoil…we falter in the “Hope and Cheer
Department.” But when I read stories like this one – or hear accounts
on the nightly news of people who have experienced incredible, horrific
atrocities or those who have suffered unimaginable torture and grief, I
think of the thousands of refugees and orphans who wonder where they
will lay their head at night and if/when they will eat again. And I am
humbled to think that the God who can quiet them and renew their hope
and cheer can – and will – do the same thing for me.
My
“troubles” pale in comparison to those of so many – yet I know that God
cares just as deeply for me as He does for anyone else. And He feels
the same way about YOU! Whatever your doubts today, ask God to reassure
you. Whatever turmoil has stirred your heart, call on Him to quiet you
and renew your hope and cheer. When you have “completely collapsed and
really need help,” let our Heavenly Father be like the “piece of
chocolate” that soothes you.
I know it’s hard to “let go and let
God” sometimes…but He so wants to meet us where we are and handle our
every need. Isn’t it time that we let Him?
©2015 Debbie Robus
https://www.facebook.com/robert.eshbach/videos/1051135241572083/?pnref=story
Isaiah 26:3
He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord!
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
In her book, For the Love*,
author/speaker Jen Hatmaker says [paraphrasing] that “I suspect
‘getting it right’ isn’t God’s highest order.” She maintains that not
one human has ever stood before God having “gotten it all right”…that
“some of the rightest rights turned out wrong.” Hatmaker proposes that
when we get to heaven and discover some of God’s most “mysterious ways,”
we will be genuinely shocked.
I share this to say that I am a
good example of someone who doesn’t fit the legalistic mode of Christian
faith…but that does not mean that I am lacking in this department. I
don’t kneel at the side of my bed to pray each evening before retiring.
Some days, my prayers are more like an… “Oh, yeah, God…I almost
forgot…please bless this one and that one”…or a quick, “LORD, please
help me with this situation that I’m facing right now.” Other days, I
spend hours talking to God about what is on my heart…and praising Him
for all that He has done for me.
Still, my faith is strong. I
have trusted God in some pretty big things (well, big for me!)…and He
has never failed me. And the more I trust…the more He shows up - and
the more I grow in peace.
People have said to me recently, “I
know you are so upset over your mother’s cancer diagnosis.” Well, yes…I
am upset…but I am also “eerily calm,” as one faith-filled cousin
described it. I’m frustrated – and heartsick that my mother is ill. But
I know that God is in control…and I am trusting His “mysterious ways”
and believing that they will be manifested perfectly.
I am
believing for others who are sick, suffering, and struggling in some
manner…confident that God is the ultimate “fixer”! I am trusting that
God will protect a former Sunday school student - and father to a
toddler and newborn - who has just been deployed to Afghanistan for a
year as a Black Hawk pilot for the National Guard. I am trusting God to
surround all of the precious children in our lives with angels who
watch over them each and every second and provide a hedge of protection
against the devil’s evil tactics. I am trusting God to care for us as a
nation…to keep us safe - and to equip us with the physical and mental
capabilities to solve our differences and become even stronger. I am
believing that God is still in the church – that His body of believers
is a refuge for weary souls and an encouragement for each of us as
brothers and sisters in Christ.
As I go about my day, it may seem
to some that some of us are disconnected. We want to look at others
and wonder why they don’t wring their hands and cry out in frustration
and protest. And the simple answer may be that they are living in the
peace of trusting God…that their thoughts are on Him. It is a wonderful
thing to hand your burdens to someone else…but when that “Someone” is
God Almighty, the peace is indescribable.
I wish I could say
that I never pick my worries back up and massage them for awhile…but I’m
learning to see the foolishness in that. I want to be one of those
people who operate in the perfect peace of trusting God…for everything.
What about you?
©2015 Debbie Robus
* For The Love -
©2015 Thomas Nelson Books for HarperCollins Christian Publishing,
Inc. ~
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Fighting-Grace-Impossible-Standards/dp/0718031822/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441913947&sr=8-1&keywords=for+the+love+hatmaker
