Clinging

This world is a mess.  There, I said it.  It is a big.fat.mess.  So much so, that there are days that I simply want to curl up in a ball and weep over the ugliness of it all.  The pain, the struggle, the sickness, the heartache.  It's overwhelming to say the least.  The darkness looms all around, and often it seems there are no easy answers, no way out, no light at the end of the tunnel.  A mess, I say.

My heart has been heavy lately over the many troubles swirling around me.  Friends with a child facing a third brain surgery for cancer.  So young and absolutely precious, yet having to face such big questions, big surgeries, big pain.  I cry out to God for her healing, and for peace and strength as they maneuver more hospitals, more surgery, and more medication.  Another young boy, who had completed his treatment and is now facing new medical challenges.  A scary time for the whole family, as well as those who love them.  Our earthly bodies struggle. 

We don't even have to watch the news to know there is trouble all around.  Murders, fires, car accidents, explosions, tornadoes, blizzards, droughts, politics, campaigns, disease outbreaks, and on and on the list could go.  It is a jungle out there.

Add onto that the burdens and challenges of everyday life that many of us face at different times...financial woes, job loss, anxiety, parenting challenges, busy-ness, health, dental woes, etc. It can feel absolutely overwhelming.  At least that is how it makes me feel.  Overwhelmed.

But it only takes a minute to find a perspective shift.  One that helps put my heart and mind in a better place.  The peace we can find, even through the yuckiness of this world, is that we are not alone.  There is one who is always with us, always walking beside us, always loving us.  And though the waves come crashing down around us, though the flames seem to be growing wild, God is with us.  So for today, I am clinging to this verse from Isaiah 43:  "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;  I have summoned you by name;  you are mine...I will be with you."  

Lord, we need you now.  We trust You to always be with us, through good and bad.  You never leave us.  You love us...we are yours.  Amen.