“When we find ourselves in a position where we can’t control what happens next, remember this: it’s an invitation for a closer connection. . . . When your way isn’t working and you’re facing an uncertain future, a situation you can’t control, be still and let God fight for you.”- Kyle Idleman
“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”- Exodus 14:14 (NIV)
Kyle Idleman concludes Chapter 6 of When Your Way Isn’t Working with the fourth reason for Moses’ anxiety.
4. Moses’ task seems dangerous and overwhelming. Everyone, Pastor Idleman stresses, eventually experiences this reality. That sometimes we lack the skills to deal with the adverse things that happen to us.
In addition, when it becomes clear that life differs from what we pictured, anxiety surfaces. And, like Moses, we desire a safe and predictable life as we age. Furthermore, Kyle notes, Moses lived a reclusive. fairly risk-free life. But now God asks him to stand in front of the powerful pharaoh and lead thousands of people.
Hence, Moses needed to remember that God was with him and live in that connection. Because God’s way always works.
In conclusion, Pastor Idleman cautions, one way to run from anxiety involves numbing it with medication. Certainly, the author acknowledges, sometimes such medications make a difference. Yet, Kyle exhorts, don’t allow pills to become a quick fix for connecting with God’s presence.
Joseph Califano Jr. once served as chairman of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. In 2007, he wrote the following in his book High Society:
“Chemistry is chasing Christianity as the nation’s largest religion. . . . Indeed, millions of Americans who in times of personal crisis and emotional and mental anguish once turned to priests, ministers, and rabbis for keys to the heavenly kingdom now go to physicians and psychiatrists — who hold the keys to the kingdom of pharmaceutical relief.”
Above all, remember that a situation beyond your control presents an invitation for a closer connection with God.
Today’s question: What most helps you establish a closer connection with God? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Abiding over achieving”