Earlier this year, we all heard the horrible news of the earthquake that hit Haiti – and the world responded: with doctors, with water, with money, with a new version of the song, WE ARE THE WORLD. Some would say we didn’t respond quickly enough or we are throwing good money after bad or any number of things. Reports flood the airwaves of earthquakes in southern Japan and Chile and tsunami waves as tall as 9 feet headed towards Chile and Hawaii. Icebergs breaking apart in Antartica, which could lead to changes in the currents of the oceans. And let’s not forget the record snowfalls all across the country this winter – it even snowed in Georgia! It seems like the world is coming apart at the seams, and we are trapped here helpless because there is no place to go.
How do we deal with this? How do we deal with our innate desire to help our brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering due to things beyond their control – while at the same dealing with your own “natural disasters” in your life? Because most of us do have our own “drama” to contend with: the death or illness of a loved one, joblessness, familial strife, anorexic bank accounts. If you don’t have one or more of these things going on in your life, you are blessed. (And let me pause to say: even if you do have one or more of these things going on in your life – you are STILL blessed.) But times are hard and sometimes, it seems like the waves of bad news are relentless and unending. How can you find peace in the midst of the storm?
My advice: Turn to the Rock. (and although I love me some Dwayne Johnson, he is not “the Rock” of whom I speak.) I’m talking about going to “the Rock of my salvation, I go to the Stone that the Builder rejected” (according to the song). I’m talking about Jesus. It seems simple for me as a Christian to say that – but that is my reality. If I didn’t know Jesus, I don’t know how I would personally make it. I am not negating other people’s belief systems and mores – if you believe in Buddha, cling to him. If you believe in Mohammad, hold fast to him. I am just saying, if you don’t have something solid to hold onto, you will be adrift, sad, battered and worn. You HAVE to have faith in Someone, for me it is Jesus, to help you get through.
The Bible warns us that things are going to get worse before they get better. Believe that. I believe God is still holding back the full effect of the winds of chaos and strife that will precede His second coming – so I believe that we still have time to get it right with Him and with our souls. But I also believe our time is short and quickly fading. Is your relationship with Him as it should be? Will your anchor hold in the stormy days ahead? I am praying that mine does – and that yours does as well. Heaven just wouldn’t be heaven without you there.
Be blessed.
© Kristina Smith 2010
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