Never thought I’d write about submission. But these are strange times we live in. Election day has passed. The dust is starting to settle. The Repercussions from this year will not be over soon even for the election. Not sure how all the impending events will shake out; I do know they will eventually have their end and life and death will go on.
Covid is everywhere. It ebbs and flows. Our social natures are getting in the way of resolving the contagion. It seems that now, with the passage of time, knowledge about it has increased. Now we have to prepare to get it again, not once and done. Now we face fading antibodies, possible vaccines from various sources, people who are kamikaze about masks- wearing/ not wearing, hospitalization increases- again. Death rates spiraling upward again. It’s enough to make one want to move to the north pole.
Our children are being molded into computer potatoes. Their studies are zoomed in and out several times daily, some go to school half the week then stay home the other half. Of course, athletics and band do go on, thus, those students attend some portion of every day. Makes no sense to me. But they didn’t ask me. The chaos and confusion, the turmoil and testing, the socializing/no socializing is getting to us all.
Parents are having to decide between choices they would just as soon not have to make over education, work, down time, sports, arts, paying bills, and now Christmas presents are into the mix as well.
It’s easy to feel helpless and hopeless during this so obvious time of death and destruction. No family will go untouched when it comes to covid-19.
Each one will be touched in some way. Whether by income or the lack of income; the confinement/ shelter at home/ social distancing/ and whatever else they call it now; by family members isolated from each other; by other illnesses that spiral out of control without close contact with the medical community; by social biases; by external limitations and the list goes on.
There will be many funerals with lack of closure for those left behind. There is complete and utter exhaustion of care takers and medical professionals and let’s not forget those who work in the medical arena doing the mundane laundry and cleaning and food prep that occurs daily.
There’s no room in the hospitals where illnesses are overflowing. This time of year the annual spiking of respiratory illnesses, asthma flares, bronchitis, colds, flu, tonsillitis, strep are beginning; and this list goes on as well.
Yet, here I sit, safe, at home with no obvious difficulties. But, feeling confined, restricted, reduced, diminished. The little things mean so much now. We restrict ourselves because we know it’s best. The barest contact holds great risk. We are timid in new ways we never thought we would face. We are learning to submit.
And, as many believers may be doing right now, I am wondering how, what, where, and when we will see the things foretold come to pass. I am learning submission in the uncertainty. In the waiting. And, I’m trying not to hold my breath but to rely on the truths I know and trust in what I cannot see. In the meantime, I pour out my fears, my feelings, my sadness, my disappointments to the One who can be trusted with my heart. In Christ Alone….
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 9:9-10
“Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”
Psalm 62:8
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
Do you get the feeling that God has a purpose in it all?
That he’s shaking us from our complacency and stirring us to think hard about what really matters?
I wonder.
Seems you have come to a good place and are coping with submission.
So many are not!
Yet in learning to submit to earthly rulers, are we not practicing submitting to a far greater power as well?
Glad you’ve had time to feed the blog again.
You always make me think.
Thank you.
Xx
Mary, I absolutely believe that God always has a purpose and a plan. Whether we are aware of it or get a glimpse of it or it remains a mystery is up to Him. The submission I have been able to come to is to Him alone. He places rulers and removes them. They are temporary and He is eternal. I still grate against rules and regulations- I always have. You know those “don’t walk on the grass” signs- yeah, I really don’t like them and have been known not to obey them in the past. But even there, I’m learning that submission is a choice and yes, by choosing to submit I am submitting to an earthly ruler that He has placed in authority.