When 2021 started none of us knew what to expect. We all prayed that it would be better than 2020. We hoped this year would bring newness & life like a welcomed Spring after a long cold Winter.
But January came & with it the same trials we had experienced in 2020. In many cases those trials were even harder hitting:
The ever-present coronavirus was still here & in fact the number of cases grew & the number of lives lost escalated with no clear end in sight.
We found ourselves in another lockdown even though it felt like we had never really left in the first place.
Kids were still doing distance learning. Some students seemed to be thriving while others struggled. In the same vein some teachers seem to have embraced teaching over zoom while some were more disconnected than ever.
Then on January 6th the political tensions that had been slowly churning finally boiled over & I sat in shock & horror as our nation's capital was attacked by our fellow Americans. I was texting with a friend throughout the ordeal & we realized that almost 20 years prior we had done the exact same thing as we watched the events of September 11th unfold. The irony was not lost on us.
Of course, there was some calm within the storm. That same friend & I sat & texted each other during the Inauguration of President Joe Biden & the swearing in of the first female Vice President. It was like a breath of fresh air after the subject matter of our January 6th text session.
Vaccinations started the slow-crawl rollout giving some light at the end of the COVID tunnel.
February arrived with more of the same:
We started seeing a decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations & deaths. Unfortunately, in the US alone there have still been over 28 million cases & sadly over 500,000 deaths.
Racial tensions continue & now we have started seeing more Asian Americans assaulted in violent attacks.
Vaccinations continued & started to pick up momentum.
Quite the roller coaster, isn't it? I'm getting whiplash just reading through the events. Sometimes it seriously seems like just when things are looking up we get hit with something else.
The real question is, when life seems to be throwing everything it possibly can at you all at once where do you find hope? Where do you turn for comfort & security?
Our natural, human desire is to turn to things in the world to satisfy us. We distract ourselves with familiar tv shows, read books, listen to upbeat music, exercise, journal, take a nice long relaxing bath, get out into nature to clear our minds or turn to a friend or family member to vent or to find comfort. None of those are bad things in & of themselves. But they won't ever satisfy.
If you know me at all you know that whenever the tide turns in my own life I try to make it a habit to turn to the Lord. I will say that this wasn't always my natural first response. It took going through quite a few trials throughout my life to deepen my trust in God to sustain me or for me to even take notice of His presence in my life. Even now there are times when I forget & don't live like Jesus fully satisfies. But even then - that has nothing to do with His ability to satisfy. He is totally & completely able. In Psalm 107:9 it even states that God satisfies the longing soul. No, when it seems like He does not satisfy it has nothing to do with Him & everything to do with my heart.
So I remind myself that I have tasted & seen that He is good. I've learned that God hears my cries when I call out to Him. Even when I can't form into words the hurt & pain I am feeling it's okay because I know that He sees my heart & He already knows. I can cast all my cares on Him because He cares about me. He promises never to leave me or forsake me. He is my strength & my shield. He is my firm foundation & He cannot be shaken. He is where my help comes from. I remind myself that Jesus promised in John 6:35 that whoever comes to Him will not hunger & whoever believes in Him will never thirst.
In a recent trying season every time I went to the Lord in prayer the phrase, "My grace is sufficient for you" kept popping into my head. I'm embarrassed to say that it took quite a while for me to figure out that it was the Lord Himself trying to remind me of what it says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..." It wasn't an audible voice but a gentle reminder. It was as if He came & put His arm around me & said "don't worry, I've got you."
The truth is - trials are a part of life. We were never promised a life free of problems. Jesus Himself even tells us that in the world we would have trouble but that we can take heart because He has overcome the world & in Him we have peace. I don't know about you but to me peace in the midst of a storm sounds like a huge sigh of relief.
So if you are struggling through the uncertainty that can come from the ups & downs of life, if 2021 isn't proving to be the redemptive year you thought it would be, if you find yourself in a season of suffering again - turn your attention to the Lord who is the one true refuge & strength, a very present help for us in times of trouble. To the Father who truly cares about His children. To the One who wants the very best for us. To the One who sacrificed His only Son for your sins just so that He could have a relationship with you. He will not turn away from you, no matter who you are or what you have done in the past.
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