Vol. 20 No. 28 | July 9, 2018
Sometimes life moves fast.
You are in the midst of a family-crisis and news comes that a dear friend has been rushed to the Emergency Room. As you frantically make your way to the ER, you get a call from your boss, asking for the sales report from last week.
You and your wife are determined to reduce your spending and get out of debt, when your company decides to cut back on labor and your hours. As you think of a way to break the news to your wife, she calls and says your daughter needs to get her wisdom teeth removed, something your insurance won’t cover.
You are doing your best to care for your aging parents. You think you have it all under control when your father has a stroke.
Your daughter is graduating from college, your son is graduating from high school, and your sister is getting married all on the same weekend.
You agreed to serve on an important church committee, the parent’s association at your children’s school needs a committee chairman, and you’ve already committed to coach your daughter’s soccer team.
Sometimes life moves fast, sometimes at a pace we’re not sure we can manage.
We all handle these times differently. Some people attack it, treating it as just another obstacle to overcome, one more mountain to climb.
Some people live in denial, ignoring the problems, hoping they will go away.
Some people run away, shirking their responsibilities, hoping others will take care of them.
But there is a better way.
During the last week of His life, Jesus was celebrated with a parade in his honor and also confronted by people who hated him. He spent time with his followers, giving them final instructions on what to do when He was gone. He was arrested, put on trial, beaten, mocked, found guilty, and nailed to a cross.
But when He left the garden, He walked out courageously, knowing what lie ahead, more determined than ever to finish His Father’s work.
How did Jesus handle it? In the midst of it all, He went to the garden and prayed.
Maybe this is what we should do. Maybe the best thing we can do is to stop our frantic efforts to fix everything, find a quiet place, and pray. This can feel scary, and we can come up with a thousand excuses why it will never work. But maybe we should just try it.
Maybe taking time to be with the Lord might be the best thing we can do, for ourselves, and for those we are trying to help.
When life starts moving too fast- you feel overwhelmed, your adrenaline starts racing, you want to run away or feel like you might collapse under the pressure- do what Jesus did: find a quiet place and pray.
Don’t be surprised if life comes at you fast and hard this week. But don’t be defeated by it either. Use the resources God has given you to make your way through it, and do your best to find joy in the process.
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