Timing Pains
Timing is hard, and sometimes we don’t get it right. I’m looking at the weather report and realizing the first snow of Fall is coming and could be significant. I’m looking at my vehicles and realizing I probably need a new sets of snow tires on all of them. Hmmmm, well that is definitely a bit unplanned, so much for any not having any upcoming staggering purchases. There are many times in life that “something” pops up unexpectedly and it’s not the right time. However, if we were honest, there always seems to be “something.”
However, the more time I walk this life set before me, the more I realize that the “something” might actually be the “thing.” What I mean is that there are things in our life expected and unexpected that will always challenge and stretch us. Something extra placed on our desk at work, fighting kids, unexpected bills: these are all “things” that can be difficult and need attention. In these moments, we are called to be present and begin to approach them with both skill and humility. Know what isn’t part of these “things”? “Something!” The “something might happen…”, the “what ifs…”, the “what were they were thinking…”, the projecting, the catastrophizing, the mind reading, are all the things that lead to worry. The Bible speaks about troubles and difficulty, (that in this life you will have them). It also talks about worry (that it doesn’t need to be the something that is added to the thing.)
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 5:31-34
Corrie ten Boom (whom I think we would give a pass to if worry happened to have crept into her life, given she was put in a concentration camp during WWII) put it this way: “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” It does empty today of its strength. Seek first important parts, that extra work on the desk could be the task that develops more skills for the next promotion, those fighting kids… are healthy enough to fight, so enjoy them. That unexpected bill might be the thing that helps you realize new possibilities in rearranging your budget. But worrying about these doesn’t allow us to actually fully participate with the “thing.”
‘Til next time,
Dave
Pastor Dave Zimmerman
www.braggcreekchurch.ca
