Trouble, right here in River City!

 

What do you do with hurt?

In the last 7 days, I've had so much hurt I feel like my heart will burst.  It's not that one single hurt has taken precedence over the other, it's the accumulation of the hurt that has taken its toll on my humanness.  The events are broken down into the "Biggies" and the "Minors".  The "Biggies":

• My cousin, in her early 40's, has just been diagnosed with aggressive stage 2 breast cancer.

• My mother-in-law, in her late 70's, has declined in health and now faces yet another care transition.

• My friend, in his mid 40's, died suddenly just last night.

• My teammate is dealing with a life way too hard.  As we speak, her Mother is dying and we are trying to help her navigate international flights during COVID.

Add to that the "Minors": 

• car repairs

• a constantly dripping faucet in my upstairs bathroom

• a migraine headache

• a surgery for my Mom, JoAnn

• and unemployment for my youngest daughter who needs money to do her teenage life

And then, the nagging feeling that "normal" life has evaporated to a far away place, the toxicity of news, the division in my community, the chatter on Facebook ... it all piles up on tender hearts that when left unattended makes one feel ... hurt.

What do you do with the hurt?

• When I heard of my cousin's diagnosis I cried.  I called her.  I prayed.  I told My Chris.

• As we've dealt with the myriad of details that seem to consume us with the transition of my Mother-in-law, I've gotten frustrated. I've cried. I've been angry. I've escaped by watching old episodes of "Highway to Heaven" on Netflix.

• When I heard the news of my friend's death I cried.  I questioned why our collective prayers were not answered by renewing his body to live.  I anguished for his wife who is a dear friend.  I didn't sleep.

• When I talked with my teammate, I, too, felt her hurt.  When I got off the phone, I cried.  Her words echoed mine but it was her hurt I felt.  I'm calling to find out what you have to do to travel internationally during a worldwide Pandemic.  Even typing the words seems like a science-fiction novel.

The other "minor" things just get pushed aside to deal with when they are most ready for my attention.  They don't require my mental energy to the degree of the "Biggies".  They do require emotional stamina which seems to elude me right now.

What do you do with the hurt?

Lesson #1:  Acknowledge there will be trouble.

As a follower of Jesus, I am not promised life lived through rose colored glasses.  Quite the contrary.  Jesus says that in fact there will be trouble.  Trouble.  Right here in River City.  Trouble with a capital "T"!  I've lived enough years on the planet to get that.  Trouble in this life is a promise.  You can always count that there will be trouble.  To live with the expectation that bad things will not happen is futile.  Put on your big girl panties and face the reality.  

Lesson #2:  Acknowledge there will be peace.

In the middle of the trouble, there is also peace.  It sounds like an oxymoron but most of the things Christ followers anchor their lives upon does.  Christs' way of navigating life doesn't follow the world's rule books.  We live by faith.  But we also live knowing that He is peace and gives peace.  I don't understand it. I just choose to continue living in it.  This peace billows down like a heavy fog and envelopes the inner cracks of my soul.  It's what I need when I hurt.  And when I hurt, I need it 24/7.

Lesson #3:  Acknowledge there will be relief.

Trouble will pass.  New trouble will come, but the current trouble will pass.  How I walk through the trouble is crucial.  Living in the midst of trouble wanting it to be over and not dealing with the reality it brings, surprised by it, or refusing to utilize the peace in the middle of it is a recipe for disaster.

Now is the time to mature in our faith.  The world isn't in need of a pansy, Sunday School kind of religious  movement that puts sweet labels on circumstances and ties everything up in a special prayer-like mantra.  It's time to put on combat boots and live our faith as movie- character Heroes.  It's time.  Trouble, it's all around us.  It's time to show the world what living with Jesus in the middle of the Trouble can do for a weak human living with total dependence on the supernatural arms of a strong God who can overcome anything.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."  John 16:33