How Do I Make It Through This Mess?

by Katherine Harms
(Baltimore, MD)

Storm Clouds are in the Air

When you listen to the nightly news, do you think that storm clouds are gathering? Has the storm already broken in your life? Are there hurricane-force winds, blinding rain, broken and flying debris everywhere you turn?

Garry McNamara was a passenger on US Airways Flight 1549. After several terrifying minutes, he found himself among those standing on the wing of the plane in the photos we all viewed as events unfolded.

In an interview later, he said that this experience led him to ask himself, "What am I supposed to do with this gift??" Garry recognized that his life could have ended the day that airplane crashed, but it didn't. Instead he is now unwrapping God's beautiful gift to him - the gift of life.

The writer of the book of Psalms went through some experiences just as terrifying as the nightly news, and he had days when he felt just like Garry McNamara. Circumstances made life look bleak, even hopeless, yet the psalmist, in his darkest moments was never hopeless. He said,

Not a day goes by
but somebody beats me up;
They make it their duty
to beat me up.
When I get really afraid
I come to you in trust. (Psalm 56:2-4)

When life is so confusing and discouraging, we feel as if we have fallen into a flooded river filled with rocks. We can't stop, we can't swim out, and if we simply go with the flow we will probably be beaten to death. In times like this we need to remember who the enemy is. It isn't government. It isn't big business. It isn't even human greed or huge lies.

The real enemy is Satan. The book of Revelation tells us that after he was thrown out of heaven, he "went off to make war on... those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus." (Revelation 12:17)

We can and should hold people in public and corporate leadership accountable for their actions, but at the root of all the bad news we hear daily is Satan's insidious work in the sinful hearts of people.

There is one response to this situation that addresses the root cause and brings about real change in our own lives. We can pray the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, saying, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." (Matthew 6:13)

hen we pray this prayer, we confess that we, too, are subject to temptations, and we assert our faith that God will defeat Satan's attacks.

If it is hard to pray this prayer, if you wonder if God really is in control, if you think all the important things are falling apart, then I recommend that you make a gift list.

Get a piece of paper and a pencil. Walk around your house and look for all the presents that were under your Christmas tree in December. It has been less than two months since that big day. Write down any of those presents that are still in use, still treasured, still important.

That list may look a bit discouraging, especially if you are still paying the credit card bill for those purchases.

Next, look at your family, and write down their names. Then write down this sentence with your name in it:

God loved (your name) so much that he gave His only son so that (your name) may not perish, but have eternal life.

Like Garry McNamara, you have received a beautiful gift from God, a gift that will not wear out or go out of style. Nobody, not even big government or big corporations, can steal it from you. By God's grace, the charge for this precious gift has already been paid.

God's most precious gift to you is your life, the life you have today, the life that will go on into eternity. God loves you so much that when you feel battered and afraid you can run to God and be safe. He will go with you through the storm.

He will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent. (Psalm 27:5)