Care a Lot and Pray a Lot

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  Hebrews 10: 22 – 25

A friend of mine told me, “My worst sin is that I’m a procrastinator.  It gets in my way and it keeps me from doing all that God created me to do.”  I would have to say that I’m the opposite.  My worst sin may be that I’m an “urgent-inator”.  I want everything to happen right away, as in “Never put off til tomorrow what you can do today” – even if it means losing sleep and missing other good things in order to get it done. I like to write things on my to-do list and check them off at the same time.  If an email is in my in-box, I feel I need to respond to it. 

In my advancing age, though, I have learned that some things are better off if they’re left to sit for awhile – chili soup, angry words, home decorating, and God’s work.  Scripture tells us that it is through challenges that we grow in our faith and our dependence on God. Paul writes this in nearly every letter – Hebrews, Corinthians, Philippians, 1 Timothy. It was true for them then and it’s true for us now. 

Right now, there are a lot of things that make us afraid. And fixers, like me, would like to fix things up right away.  A nice easy solution would be very nice!  But God sees things with eternal eyes. The Apostle Paul talks to all the early churches about the need  for struggles and perseverance in order to grow faith.  As the writer Anne Lamont says, “It’s good to be afraid, when it mobilizes us to fight tooth and nail for what is right, when it pricks the balloon of our complacency, when it gets us back on our feet.  A lot of us are both afraid and devoutly faithful at the same time… courage is fear that has said its prayers.” 

We can respond to the things that make us afraid with fear.  Or we can care a lot and pray a lot.  We can stick together and share and listen and draw nearer to God knowing that we are loved and chosen and safe.  We know the ending of the story, and it is this.  In the end, God wins.  Jesus came to tell us that.

Today I will pray to the God that loves us, and be at peace.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, It seems like there are so many things to be afraid of, but I know that you tell us over and over again in Scripture to, “Be not afraid”, and to trust You.  Protect me from my urgent-inator ways.  I pray for peace in my soul as You slow me down and help me to remember to pray and to trust You while You work out Your way in the world.  Amen

Lori Snyder-Sloan (reprinted from the Eastridge Advent Devotional, 2016)