The elephant in the room

It's easy to do things absentmindedly. There can be some bad consequences from not thinking before we make decisions. I was 62-years-old before I had a broken bone. Freezing rain was falling and compacting as soon as it hit the ground. Without thinking, I decided to go outside, down four-ice covered steps just to shut a storage building door that had blown open. There were no items of significance in the building so why did I absentmindedly, step out the door not taking the consequences of my actions into consideration? I don't know, but what I do know is that the second my foot stepped out the door and touched the first step, I immediately slid down the other three shattering my wrist requiring surgery with two pins and six screws to hold it together.

I remember when my sister was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Even though I knew God could heal her, I thought my world had nearly ended. Bad news can be a very frightening thing. It shakes our world and shatters our peace. Doubt and fear come flooding into our soul and mind. For a little while we may forget our position in Christ. A phone call at 3:00 a.m. sends chills down our spine. A knock at the door after mid-night momentarily engulfs us in fear. News of a bad accident is blood chilling.

That's when we pray scared prayers. We pray visualizing the worse scenarios: everything our mind tells us is possible. We pray in fear of what may happen. As you know, most of what we fear never happens. Although there are those times when our worst fears do come true, faith is still our best go-to. Where do we run? What is our first reaction to bad news? What about when the weather man is counting down the time when a tornado could potentially hit your house? There are some scary times we have to deal with, but in all these God is still God and he has the power to bring peace to every situation. Faith is still the best antidote for fear. Any fear.

The elephant in the room is, "How much do we trust Him?" Is fear or faith our first reaction? For me, that depends on the situation, I guess. There were times I've had no fear in the face of bad news, but there were other times (like when I heard the news of my sister's possible death), that I stayed up all night sick with fear. Praying for God to intervene. And, He has. She's not cured yet, but she's on the way. God is good and the more we realize that, the stronger we'll be when bad times come.

We don't want bad news. But, as you've often heard, God allows bad to come once in a while so we will learn to trust Him and be thankful to Him for the good He brings in our lives. If everyday was stress and anxiety free, we'd never appreciate the good God does in our lives.

I'm so thankful for the Word of God that says "peace be still, take courage, be strong, trust in Me, I'll never leave or fail you." Faith is a product of hope and hope is the anchor of our soul.