Where do you turn when you don’t know where to turn? And to whom do you turn?
In the current situation we are all combatting this thing called COVID. One of the more common conversations is whether you should get “the shots” or not.
Do you and I trust “the science”? Or do we just wing it on our own and leave the results to chance?
Then, there is the economy. Now with gas prices rising, and food prices going through the roof, our economy is presenting us with a life situation that everyone in authority tells us is for our own benefit. But when you ask the man or woman on the street that situation is at best “scary”.
But there are even more personal “scary” things that can happen.
For instance, my brother called me late one night a couple of months ago and asked me to call him early the next morning. When I asked him why, he told me he felt sick and was going to shower and go to bed. I told him to go to the hospital and get some immediate help.
He did, and discovered he was having a stroke.
Another friend, newly retired (for the second time), woke up one morning and realized his wife, lying in the bed next to him, was not moving and her body was cold. She had passed away in the night.
All of these instances/issues seem overwhelming. How do we survive? How do we cope?
I cannot think of these things without an image of “Roley-Poley Roger” coming to my mind.
“Roley-Poley Roger” was a kid in junior high school who was sort of, well, chubby. And he talked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, kind of high-pitched and giggly when you poked him, you know?
Well, Roger, being so “roley poley” was a natural target for the older and bigger kids in the junior high to pick on, and pick on him they did. Every day before school, these big guys would wait for Roger and attack him, poking fun at him, and in general, yes, harassing him unendingly.
Roger took it, week after week, singing to himself that little ditty: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never harm me.”
But gradually the name-calling developed into even more. And Roger continued to take it… until he could take no more.
Then he decided he would confront them. He told them to lay off or else he would have to call upon his “resources.” And of course, they laughed.
But the next day, when these fellows approached Roger, out from behind the bushes came the biggest, the meanest-looking, over-300-pound football player that these boys had ever seen.
He took one look at these bullies, then looked at Roger and said, “Are these the ones, Roger?” Roger shook his head yes, and the next thing they knew they were all being beaten to a pulp.
Roger’s last words to them were, “I told you I had resources! Meet my older brother Bubba!”
In a world where just reading the daily news headlines is enough to “scare” us all, we all need a “resource” – someone who is bigger and better than anything the world can throw at us, bigger than any despotic dictator, any middle-of-the-night kidnapper, or anything else in tomorrow’s headlines.
In the Bible, we read, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” (Psalm 46:1).
There is nothing like the peace that comes from knowing I have a resource in God who’s “got the whole world in His hands!”
No matter how big the bullies of life are, no matter how high the waves or how powerful the storms seem to get, knowing God, knowing I belong to Him, not just believing He is there, but really and truly belonging to Him, is the sure way to peaceful living in a stress-filled world…
As the Scriptures tell us: “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers … nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) And that God is bigger than any enemy you will ever face. Psalm 112:7 tells us that “The man who fears the Lord … will have no fear of bad news.”
From the moment you give yourself to Jesus, you are resting in the only arms that can keep you safe in any storm. And nothing can separate you from His love. Wow! So, again, from Psalm 46, “Be still, and know that I am God (v.10).
In other words, when all of life around us seems to be collapsing or imploding – no matter what the cause, the true follower of Jesus has “resources” that will keep you safe. We have a “Bubba” to call on who will indeed take care of the “bullies” that seem to oppress us on a daily, or even moment-by-moment basis.
Therefore, the solution is simple: rest in His love! Call on Him daily!
And as the old song says, “God will take care of you!”
God bless …
Chuck Tabor is a regular columnist for the News Journal and a former pastor in the area. He may be reached at [email protected].
