Choices

Two of the kids and I just took a quick trip to the beach with my parents. It's nice living close enough to the coast to be able to take little breaks from everyday life. The kids and I (and the grandparents) had a great time, playing in the pool, taking walks, solving puzzles and riding bikes. We even made rubber bouncy balls and goop! Fun and relaxing, a perfect little break from the routine... just what a vacation should be (even a short one).

Driving home, God brought to mind a conversation I had with a friend a few years ago. She had fairly recently been divorced and had taken her kids, along with the grandparents, on their first vacation without dad. She shared how she didn't really enjoy the trip like she wanted, because she felt like everyone could tell she wasn't married anymore. She worried that her kids didn't have a great vacation, since they weren't "really" a family anymore.

I reflected on our similar experiences, both traveling, with kids and grandparents and without husbands. Yet, I had a great time and she did not.

In this life we will face challenges. Paul writes in 2 Tim 3:12, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Many great Bible heroes went through incredibly tough challenges. Imagine being asked to lead an entire nation through the desert for FORTY years. Or Job, enduring hardship after hardship, just because he loved God. The challenges we face today are no less difficult: divorce, gambling, abuse.

As believers, we have a choice. We can focus on the circumstances. Or, we can "rejoice in the Lord, always..." (Phil. 4:4). Choosing to rejoice, we pray for "hope to which [God] has called [us], the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." (Eph. 1:18-19). We don't look at the circumstances around us, but instead focus on God, who helps us "be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." (Rom. 12:12).

Looking back on those vacations, the difference was our security. My friend did not have her husband's love waiting for her at home. I did. The only difference for the Christian, facing challenges in this life, is security. We can be secure in God's love for us, regardless of our situation. We can know that we are not alone and that He will see us through.

Dear Lord, Thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Your holy spirit to comfort and guide me in difficult times. When I feel alone or afraid, when my circumstances start to overwhelm me, help me remember that You love me. Help me get my eyes off myself and back on You. Use my life to be a light in the darkness. Please be with us when we go through difficult trials, and help us remember that we do not walk alone. Amen.