Overwhelmed. That's the word that several of my friends have recently used to describe themselves. Their circumstances are different, but what they have in common is a torrent of difficulty in one form or another that doesn't seem to let up. Life is hard for them, just as life is hard for all of us to one degree or another. As difficulty piles upon difficulty, hard decisions that need to be made are left lying undone like last week's laundry. The Christian life seems like one joyless trial after another. Caught in this whirlwind, flight seems like an easy option.
Whether we choose to flee or stand our ground isn't a decision that we make in a moment. It's a product of the habits that we have cultivated before the moment of decision comes. It's the fruit of our theology applied to our circumstances, for good or for ill. Are we tempted to flee when the thermostat of trials is turned up? Perhaps our view of God is wrong, and we have given into the subtle error of believing that past perseverance earns us a rest from difficultly. We may have become so busy in "doing the Christian life" that we've traded the excellency of knowing Christ for a hectic Christian lifestyle.
David responded to the same temptation:
In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The LORD is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test, the children of man. The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. -- Psalm 11, ESV
God's reign, wisdom, and sovereign rule never change. Circumstances never get the better of him, because everyone and everything are subject to his rule. Because God in unchanging and always faithful, we can run to him when the temptation is strong to run away and hide. He is there, he is available, he is good, and he is in control. Even when all of the foundations of our lives seem to have been ripped apart by the whirlwind, God is there, and he is ruling our lives with his sovereign love.
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