Reaction

Someone tells you of their multiple unending crises of life, car problems, the dental bill, the financial woes from here to Tennesee, what do you do?

Your husband is totally stressing about upcoming job changes, and you are worried about being able to pay the heat bill this winter, what do you do?

Someone tells you they are depressed and have tried, seriously, to take their own life, what do you do?

A friend confides to you that they have no hope for a situation, feels as though their dreams are dying, what do you do?

When life comes at you all at once - supper burning, phone ringing, child crying, children fighting, headache, hungry, diapers, bills - what do you do?

I have had occasion, in the recent past, to wonder, "what do people who aren't Christians do? How do they cope with crises? Where, or to whom, do they turn?"

I seriously don't know.

I have always known I have a God to turn to, who is my protector and provider. He is the one who cares most what happens to me, where I land, where I go. He should be my source, my all in all. Tonight, in talking to some friends, I listened to a story shared about how one woman would pray before she dealt with each new "customer" that she was to help. Many times she would walk away amazed at how God had used her in their situation, in ways she could never have done on her own. And when she got done sharing, I thought, man, I wonder what my life would be like if I prayed like that about the situations I encounter in my "work." What would happen in my home if I started my day like that? Driving home, I realized that I rarely even offer to pray for others, or even to pray for them privately later on. I failed to pray for someone's car problems today. I didn't ask God to cover my children. I haven't asked God to bless my home, my marriage, our finances. I don't pray for my parents or siblings or inlaws with any kind of regularity at all. I have failed to put my trust in God for helping my child in school. And I am stressing about all kinds of things for which God knows the answer.

So really, what do I do? Because even though I know in my head that I have that God to turn to, I'm not turning to Him.

Apparently, I need some work in this area of my reaction to, and preparation for, life.

Lord, I'm really missing the mark in how I deal with life. I eat, or scream, or walk away, when really I should be falling on my knees and searching for you. Forgive me for not even noticing. Help me to seek you first, to look to you for guidance for myself or others. I desperately ask for your wisdom in my life, in the decisions I make, and in the situations I affect. I ask for your gentle reminder that you are in all these situations, longing to show your glory, and to shower your blessings. Thanks for never giving up on me, even when I give up on myself. Thanks for placing people in my life who know just when to give a word of encouragement, a hug, or an hour of free babysitting. Help me to be a blessing to others, and encourager, a stand-in-the-gap-er. Because I want to be a giver, not a taker. A noticer, not wrapped up in my own world, oblivious. I want YOU to be my home base, that place I run to. And I want people to see that in me, and know they can run to you too.