In the Middle

“Lean down Your ear to me; deliver me quickly: You become a strong rock for me, a safe house....” Psalm 31.2

August 25, 2010 

          Kathy and I spent last week at a training event in Wisconsin. Pastor Brian was the lead speaker and he reminded all of us of an important truth. He did so by using a simple graft on the board similar to this:

Crisis Begins ____________I am here____________ Resolution of Crisis

          When the crisis begins, we might say something like, “I can’t believe this is happening.” At the end we say, “Well, I guess I’m going to be OK.” But in the middle, we can’t see as clearly. This is where we are prone to make mistakes.

          We might get angry at God for the crisis. We might challenge His will and, thinking we know what is best for us even if God seems to have it wrong, we might try to substitute our own will and desires. All of us who have been there can remember the consequences of this mistake.

          But if we determine that God is God and believe that God will carry us through, if we settle in our hearts that God truly loves us and that He does know what He is doing, we will save ourselves much grief. We will come to the end of the crisis without having to clean-up the mess we added to the very problem we were trying to solve. And we will not be faced the need to apologize to God later when we look back and see His hand guiding us through the whole time.      

Prayer: Lord, I know this is true, but when the next crisis comes, I’m going to need some help getting it right.

Copyright 2010 Michael Sanders 

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