Thursday, May 18, 2017

When Your World Explodes

"Nobody wakes up thinking 'My world will explode today. My world will change'. Nobody thinks that. But sometimes it happens. We wake up. We face our fears, we take them by the hand...and then we stand there, waiting, hoping, ready for anything."- Meredith Grey.

Y'all (AKA my 3 readers ) know I love a good Grey's quote. Not all the lovely voice overs are worth repeating,
But this one is right.
Every single person on this earth is vulnerable. One phone call, one doctor visit, or one news story away from our world crumbling down.

Christ himself said "In this world you will have trouble." 
If you haven't had a moment in which you felt like you couldn't breathe after news you just received, I hate to say it...but it will come.

Some of you might be setting up arguments in your head. "But I'm a Christian. My faith is strong. I believe God will get me through anything." Oh, I know. But... I don't care how Christianly you are, you are human. As am I. And as humans, it means there are things that are too big for us to handle. There have been and will continue to be moments that knock us off our feet. 

So what do you do in that moment? 

Or what if it's a season of those moments? 
What if time and time and time again, you receive bad news? 
What if you hurt, then heal, then hurt again?


The quote states that we hold the fear's hand, standing there waiting for anything...I don't know about grabbing the fear by the hand, but So often we grasp at anything we can get our hands on to bring us steadiness, numbness, or a feeling of safety. The explosion is so abnormal and so scary that we reach for anything to calm the fears, even if for a second.

So what do you reach for...
Television? 
Alcohol? 
Sleep? 
What about Facebook? 
Or medicines and natural remedies?
Or what about people?
Food, perhaps?

The last time you thought you were walking on waves and  suddenly found yourself sinking, what was the first thing you did? That first thing will tell you countless things about your own soul. 

I make phone calls. Before I even suck in the next breath of air between sobs, I run through the list of people. I send frantic text messages and if none of those get answered I pick a person to call. 
It doesn't surprise me, because I have a habit of carving graven images out of my friends and forgetting my God. 

Some of you may numb your feelings with hours of television, or you may repeatedly refresh your news feed. Others of you may crave something sweet or something chemical. Still others may turn to sex, pornography, or romantic relationships. Some of you may pour essential oils in every diffuser in your home grasping for balance, and another someone may stare at something that will cause you harm contemplating if the harm will bring you relief. 

So barring all holds, look yourself in the eye and tell the truth. Think back to the last moment, day, or season of pain. Where did you go? To what did you turn instead of Christ? 
No one reading this is any more broken than the other readers, or the writer. We just have different brands of brokenness. But we all have a brand, and that's the point. Humans are frail, fragile idol makers with hearts that seek to anchor themselves to anything that won't actually work. 

But there is hope. 
There is an actual anchor that is solid, strong, and sure. 
This anchor  is eternal and eternally satisfying. 
He stands outside of our time and our world, and He is in control of it all. 
Christ alone, Cornerstone. 

That drink will not fix your soul. 
That friend will let you down.
This show won't fill the void. 
That pornography will destroy you from the inside out. 

Jesus Christ will breathe life into your soul like flowing water in a parched desert. He had the power at creation to breathe life into humans, and he can do it again. His Word is living and active and filled with hope and joy. Christ came so that his followers could have life more abundantly, so really we miss out when we turn to anything else. And above that,  things we turn to first and primarily are nothing short of idols just like the golden calf in Exodus 32. 

Oh, friend, hear me out. I get it, I've done it, and I understand. But it's time to do something different. Next time something threatens to make your world explode, hit your knees. Cry out to God and raise your hands to Heaven. I'm not saying it makes the pain less real or less valid. But it will make it less dangerous. Tear down your idols and trust your God. 


"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world."-John 16:33

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