I am seldom at a loss for words, but yesterday about did me in. From hateful politics to the death and destruction of natural disasters. From long weeks of a horrifying pandemic to the wanton disregard of Memorial Day revelers. From the tragic pictures of a man held under the knee of a police officer till he died…on camera…to the pictures of hordes of people rioting in the street. The sheer chaos just breaks me.

It’s easy to feel like we are standing on the edge of a cliff and there’s a whole crowd of people pushing us from behind. For every picture, for every news story, for every horrifying event…there are stories behind it, beneath it, through it. There are forces at work here breathing death into this chaos. There are evil doers who are fanning the flames of discord. There’s more to this story than we are seeing.

How can we stay positive in times like this? We can’t “unsee” these things. We can’t “unknow” this information. Sometimes things are just so awful we can’t fix them and we can’t ignore them. We can’t hide from them and we’re left feeling unsafe, insecure…frightened.

As I walked out the back door last night and headed to the camper to write about all of this, I was immediately greeted with several gifts. The sun was setting, casting a golden green light over the land I am so privileged to inhabit. The evening was cool and a breeze carried the scent of peonies and honeysuckle across the meadow. And, as I snuggled back against the pillows, iPad at the ready, the mockingbird outside the window regaled me with her evening repertoire. This is when I felt the Holy Spirit reach out to soothe me and remind me of these comforting words to share with you.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?”

Psalm 27:1

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you, he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Deuteronomy 31:8

“He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.”

Job 5:11

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

John 14:27

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

“If I say ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for the darkness is as light with you.”

Psalm 139:11-12

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

Psalm 55:22

“Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.”

Psalm 119:76

I have no answers as to the state of the world. I am gobsmacked by it all. I can’t make sense of it. I’ve been through troubling times before, but this is just crazy…unlike anything I have ever experienced. I do know this, though…the statement “Do not be afraid,” appears 70 times in the Bible. So, I do the only thing I can do. I run to my Dad for his protection and comfort. He is always there for me. He will never leave me or forsake me. He allows me the space to find the comforting gifts he leaves in my path…like a jar of Redbud Jelly and a bag of Sourdough Starter from Texas. The ability to turn those things into English Muffins. The heady aroma of honeysuckle and the evening song of a mockingbird.

I don’t know how God can love us so much…but I’m surely glad that He does. 

❤️

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV