When August rolls around we all know what to do. School starts. Sports begin. Summer play returns to the order and familiarity of how we do life. Except when there is a global pandemic and a cure is not yet found. Except when our nation is roaring with protests and division and angst. Except when we are isolated from the very people we need and love. With jobs changed or missing, and bank accounts shrinking nothing looks anything like “normal”. Our lives are still disrupted! Tensions are high! The layers of our comfort and stability are peeled back one by one, and sometimes chunk by chunk. What do we do now?
When everything is shaking underneath our feet and it feels as though stability is much too far away… it is a time to stop and THINK. When life is spinning out of control and what we thought or imagined would be our summer, our fall or the year just vanishes from view… it is a time to stop and BREATHE. When our daily task is creating something we’ve never seen or innovating in ways that feel awkward and exhilarating all at once…it is a time to TRUST.
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
– Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew; Chapter 11 verses 28-29
It is totally normal to long for what “was” because it is the most familiar and we know how to do it. It is our default to have packed schedules, building and lives. COVID19 requires us to empty what was filled. It is our default to gather in numbers (more always considered “better”) and sing at the top of our lungs. COVID19, when present, spreads illness like a wildfire at the raising of our voices. It is our default to order life around school schedules, sports, music and community events. COVID19 suggests that life within households, neighbors and small circles is life-giving for now. It is our default to “go” somewhere else to serve and COVID19 reveals the need to serve with each other wherever we can be today.
Trusting God is an intentional practice in the moments when we cannot see or imagine how to take the next step. “Hope is hope for that which is unseen….” So just before we claim it is all too much, too late or too wrong: THINK. BREATHE. TRUST and ask for help from our Creator and Redeemer. God is faithful.
Prayer
God, we need your help. Please come, Holy Spirit, and guide us through these days. Show us the way you are making that is something we have never seen or done before. Please offer each of us and all of us the wisdom we need right now. We will follow your nudges. Thank you for filling in the gaps we will never be able to fill. We need you, Lord, and we trust you. We are at your mercy; help! We pray in the name of Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
Way Maker by SINACH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM8jQHE5AAk
For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:24-25
Life in the Deep End 
Continuing to TRUST as we navigate continued choppy waters indeed!