Hope

Problems in Perspective

It’s been a rough year for our family.

And it seems that every time I think that we’re about to enter a new season, another thing happens that makes me realize that this season is going to last a little bit longer. And intellectually I’m o.k. with that. After all, Scripture states that “to every thing there is a season; a time for every purpose under heaven.” So I know that life will be filled with good times and bad times, but that through it all God remains the same. Yet, while I know this in my mind, sometimes my heart is a little tired of the beating.

Recently, however, a song by Jars of Clay reminded me that it’s important to keep my problems in perspective. As they sing:

And though the pain is an ocean
Tossing us around, around, around
You have calmed greater waters
Higher mountains have come down

In other words, the same God who has comforted me in loss, is the One who raised the widow’s son. The same God who gives me peace, is the same God who through His command, calmed the storm. Whether it’s the passing away of a loved one, dreams that remained unrealized, job loss, or hospital stays, God has already proven that He can handle much bigger problems that these.  So whatever problems we may be facing, they are nothing He can’t handle. In light of His majesty and power, then, our problems are pretty insignificant.

This isn’t to say our problems don’t matter; they certainly do. And this isn’t to say we need to minimize our pain; we certainly don’t. The problems are real and the pain is real, and God knows this.  But we do need to keep our problems in perspective in light of the One that we are trusting our lives with. While our problems may be big, He is bigger. While our pain may be deep, His grace is deeper. He can handle anything that this life contains; after all, He’s the One who has conquered death.

So we need not fear any season or any uncertainty.

When we think we can’t take any more, we know the One who can handle it all.

 

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Relationships

The Small Things

I hate noise.

That might sound like an odd thing to say, but the older I’ve become the more I realize that any type of pulsating, loud noise is like nails on a chalkboard to me. For some reason, I’m just overly sensitive to sounds. It’s so bad that sometimes I wonder what I’ll do if my husband and I ever have kids. Even the squeals of children’s toys have been known to cause me to squirm.

As you might imagine, due to this aversion, I’m not a fan of alarm clocks. So, when mine goes off, I promptly turn it off, usually within 3 seconds of it beeping. Sure, sometimes I’ll hit snooze, but that alarm barely has a chance to chirp before it’s silenced again.

My sweet hubby, however, has a different approach. He’s able to tune out noise. So when his alarm clock goes off, it can go off uninterruped for minutes, maybe longer if I let it And even after he’s turned the alarm off, he can go right back to sleep, waiting for the next alarm to get him up 5 minutes later.

And this drove me nuts.

Until one day, as I was getting ready and bitterly complaining in my spirit, I realized that in the grand scheme of things, alarms were a relatively minor issue. Rather than grumbling, being irritated that the alarm was going off…AGAIN… and yet my hubby was still sleeping,  I could make a different decision.

I could graciously wake him up.

In this realization, a larger lesson was learned.  As I wrote previously, in a relationship, it’s often easy to promise to make the grand gesture, to risk your life for the sake of your love. In practicality, we often resist doing the small things to bless our spouse. Things like picking up the socks that should have never been left on the floor, or emptying the dishwasher even though you’ve done in the last three times, or turning off the alarm for your husband, and with a smile, waking him up.

And perhaps it’s the practice of doing these small things well that prepare us to make the grand gesture if we are ever called to. And if we never are, at least we have a lifetime of small, yet significant, moments of sacrifice that demonstrate our love.

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