Released

Just the other night, Shay came running out of her room screaming that she had seen a mouse.  Shay did not do this quietly or gently, but she very clearly announced her predicament to the entire family so that we were aware of her distress.  In fact, she was so loud that I’m sure that her brother and sister in Iowa City probably heard her exclamations of fear and dread.

Shay feared something that looked like this:

                                         

Cute, huh? 

She wouldn’t even go in her room until her dad went in with a spade (I think he was going to garden it to death) and hunted the tiny, albeit elusive, enemy.  Finally, convinced that it had ventured on to more important items like toothpaste and Q-tips, she returned to her rodent-defiled abode, still fearing that the mouse might return and eat her hair, giving her a bald spot, like Pa in Little Town on the Prairie.

The funny thing about this story is that, besides eating a hole in her luscious locks, the tiny little creature really couldn’t hurt her because she was much bigger and stronger than it.

It’s the same with trials in this life; they are scary, they throw us off balance, and we like to cry about them so others can hear.  But when we call in the big Guns--the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we can rest assured that they listen...and act.

It is God’s job to protect us, to give us what will make us look most like Him.  His judgments are always right even when we don’t think so. Even when they make us cringe.  Because we are His children, He will go to the ends of the earth to aid us in our understanding of Him.  He tells us that we are “more than conquerors through him” (Romans 8:37) and that “no one can snatch [us] out of [His] hand.” (John 10:28).

So, if we truly believe that God is good, and that He is working for our eternal good, we need to stop letting the trials of this life overwhelm us and we need to look forward to our forever Home where “He will wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things  [will have] passed away.” (Revelation 21:4).

Through Christ, we are much bigger and stronger than anything this world can throw at us.  We need not be trapped by our fears. 

God’s got it.

Get it?

Good.

 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4