This week has been an absolute killer of my routine. Due to blizzard conditions, over a foot of snow and a teacher inservice day, our boys went to school only on Monday. For two days, none of us left the house. The Coaches I work with were off for snow days. The discipleship groups and other meetings all missed this week. No big deal, not the toughest thing to deal with in the world, but there was a lack of order, a sense that ‘this is not how things are supposed to be’. And honestly, although the week was certainly unusual, I was doing OK with it all up until yesterday morning. Just when I didn’t think it could get any weirder, we watched on the news as our boys’ school was on fire. As news came in about the fire, and it appeared that arsonists were responsible, I was equal parts angry, sad and curious about what the immediate future would hold for our children, their classmates and their teachers. I spent time praying that God would help work all this out. It just really disappointed me that these hundreds of kids and their families were having to adjust all their lives based on circumstances they had no control over.
(I’ve said this before, but let me say here that there is no comparing the adversity I’m writing about here with any permanent life altering situations. No one was hurt in this fire and in time it won’t be an issue. Millions of people all over the world deal daily with much more difficult things. But this is what we’re dealing with now, and it’s certainly unfortunate.)
So yesterday, I was doing some reading and came across this piece by Sarah Young from her daily devotional book Jesus Calling. It was the message dated 2/3, and it read:
“I am with you and for you. You face nothing alone – nothing! When you feel anxious, know that you are focusing on the visible world and leaving Me out of the picture. The remedy is simple: Fix your eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. Verbalize your trust in Me, the Living One who sees you always.“
Lord, help me fix my eyes on you rather than the visible world. I know You are for us. I trust You, the Living One who sees me always.