Thursday, April 30, 2009

Tie a knot and hang on

Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

It's really difficult to feel secure in this world. Just when you think you've managed to come to terms with the possibility of total economic melt down, something else comes along. Now the news of this bankruptcy and that request for bail out has been replaced by photos of people in masks and maps showing increasing numbers of states affected by the swine flu. I had a spam email, from WebMD, my favorite source when I want to diagnose my symptoms myself, saying "Pandemic Imminent." Pandemic imminent? That makes me feel like I already have swine flu and I just don't know it yet...I better check my symptoms.

Most of this has little impact on me. I don't read the newspaper, I don't watch the local news, and I have no idea how to find CNN, Fox, or MSNBC on the television. I'm OK with that. I just don't think a constant barrage of experts and tickers to tell us all the possible means of destruction heading our way is good for us. That makes me nearly useless in any "current events" conversation. I'm OK with that too.

Even with those precautionary measures, it's difficult to escape the cloud of fear. To me, the threat of the soup kitchen line is bigger than the swine flu, so maybe while we're concentrating on one, the other will improve? Just looking for a silver lining. I'm sorta like that...maybe "naive" is the word, but some things are really easy for me to take on faith. Presidential press conferences reassure me, whether they be Democratic or Republican, that someone's on the job.

It's difficult to live worry-free in this world. And I have no idea how people do it. Most of my fears are not global in nature. They have more to do with cancer, bumps in the night, and where I left my debit card. And I know that God is with me in those moments (maybe not the debit card. I really should be in control of that one). God didn't send economic melt down or global pandemics but God is still in control.

I was going to post a video, either "Hold Fast" by MercyMe or "Praise You In This Storm" by Casting Crowns. I couldn't find one that I loved, but I've already posted the Casting Crowns here.