I’m quick to think of worst-case
scenarios.
Seriously, if you need to find
out what could go wrong while walking into the grocery store, or how a simple
vacation could turn into a tragedy, or how tying your shoes could kill you, I
can help.
I really need to work on this,
especially in my line of work. I was
explaining a medication to a patient the other day and was telling him he would
not be going home on this particular medication, “unless something happens and
you have a stroke or something.”
No, Kendall. No.
That patient wasn’t worried about having a stroke. He is now.
I don’t think I’m alone in this (at
least, I hope I’m not). As humans, we’re
trained to expect the worst – the worst out of people, out of governments, out
of the media, out of the weather, out of life – and it’s the rare and beautiful
human who rises above and unfailingly expects good things to happen. (Please tell me I’m not wrong. If I am, I might need professional help.)
But, child of God (speaking to
myself, of course)… Don’t you realize
that nothing will ever ever ever ever ever
happen to you outside the endless love of Jesus?
Don’t you remember that He has
made plans “not to harm” you (Jer. 29:11)?
Don’t you know that the whole
world can spin out of your control,
but it won’t ever spin out of His?
And no, His thoughts aren’t your
thoughts, dear one, His ways aren’t your ways (Is. 55:9). He may act in a way that does not feel like
love. He may work in a way that seems
like harm.
But it is love. His way
is always love.
He works all things for your
good (Rom. 8:28), though it does not say that He works all things for your good
right away.
God is good. God is in
control. God loves me.
I was told once that fear leaks
in when our belief in one of those things fails.
But when all three are engrained
into our hearts…what peace.
Everything can go wrong. An earthquake can shatter the entire
country. An election can turn life
upside down. An unexpected diagnosis or
a shocking betrayal or a fatal accident or a failed friendship can rock your
heart, but it will not rock His love. Though the mountains be shaken, His love will not be (Is. 54:10).
After all, the goal of life is
not to never experience pain or loss. It
is to experience the love and presence of One who has prepared a place for us,
one where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, and He
Himself will be our light (Rev. 21:4, Is. 60:19).
"'As the Father hath loved
me, even so have I loved you;' and a higher degree of love we cannot imagine.
The Father loves His Son infinitely, and even so today, Believer, doth the Son
of God love thee." -Charles Spurgeon
Jesus loves you as much as the Father loves Jesus.
What a thought to simply be in
for a moment. And what a thought to be
in when worst-case scenarios become more than silly exercises in creative
thinking, when they become real fears or
even real events.
This post isn’t terribly deep. There are no new thoughts here, nothing
others haven’t said before, nothing I haven’t
said before.
But my heart so often needs a
reminder of His love, come what may.
And perhaps yours does too.
"I am no longer anxious
about anything, as I realize that He is able to carry out His will for me. It
does not matter where He places me, or how. That is for Him to consider, not
me, for in the easiest positions He will give me grace, and in the most difficult
ones His grace is sufficient." - Hudson Taylor
