Jen Smidt is one of the writers for the excellent blog The Resurgence. I found this post particularly poignant and insightful for real-world disciples.
For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of
the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard,
when he cried to him. - Psalm 22:24
I went to the doctor yesterday and was told I needed surgery. This is
not a particularly unique event in many people’s lives. It happens
every day. It has happened to me 15 other times in my 4 decades of life.
Despite the frequency of this news, the blow is always felt.I hate getting bad news. So much of our lives are spent trying to avoid or protect against it, but dealing with pain and disappointment is a daily occurrence on the face of this imperfect and fallen world.
Who do you become in the face of adversity?
Worst-Case Scenario Woman
This is the woman who immediately upon hearing difficult news goes off the deep end, filling in the blanks with a myriad of outcomes, all equally horrific. There is a strange illusion of control and comfort that goes along with catastrophizing life so as to brace yourself from the inevitable. A dear friend of mine described it as “walking way too far down the road of fear and shaking hands with all of the possible scenarios that live there.”Worst-Case Scenario Woman isn’t simply preparing herself for what may come–she is sinning. Her heart is revealed in these difficult moments and her distrust in God is speaking loudly. If this describes you (and it certainly does me over the last 24 hours), we would do well to completely derail the thought train of speculation and disaster and simply state to ourselves truth. Truly, our current trouble may feel like too much, but it never is for God. I can’t maintain my life through this trial but God promises to sustain me in it. Finish reading ...
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