What’s Saving Your Life?
Photo by Norbert Braun via Unsplash
What's saving your life? Someone asked that question in a small group I was in recently. For some it was mystery novels. For others, movies. For me, it was the Psalms.
Words I've been hearing lately:
Storms.
Languishing.
Exhaustion.
Overwhelm.
Busy.
Therapy.
Out of it.
Need.
Help.
Do you feel cracked? In a fog? Artless? Depressed and you don't know why? We are in what people with chronic illness call the “long haul.”
It's covid. Parenting. Loss. So many things for each of us.
For me, it’s been struggling with anxiety. A family member getting omicron, like everyone else. Pray-worrying for friends who are ill or hurting. Wondering am I crazy for starting grad school? Selfish for sitting down to write a poem?
If we could sit on my couch and drink some hot chocolate together, I'd say, “Tell me what's going on.” After a spell, I'd ask, “what's saving your life?”
“I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” -John10:10 The Message
Not easy. Never simple. Almost breaking. Do these words of Jesus and the state of your soul (or perhaps of a friend) smash against one another?
This quote hit me so powerfully this week: “If you are cracked, then you're in good company” (Sally Clarkson). We are in the community of saints who have peered into the depths of hell and have come back to tell the story. These are your people.
The transcendent God we cannot wrap our minds around, who holds time and space in his hand, chose to pitch his tent in your backyard. He knows the tragic bent of this world. He holds your hand and says, “This side is hard. Harder than you imagined, but I have overcome it. Follow me."
So, yes, I'd love to know how God is breaking into your life and giving you gifts that feel like salvation.
I've been pondering ways I can do this in my writing and speaking. And I've got some interesting ideas I'm working on. Over the next few months, I'm going to run a few by you. Ideas like mentoring and blessing, chats about motherhood and making art, and praying the Psalms together.
What I know is that I won't be doing this alone. God has given me friends all over the world and I'm going to start connecting the dots. It may be slow, but I know I am called to be faithful with my vocation.
So are you.
Whatever work you are called to---and that may be rest!---may you do it with your whole heart as you take Christ up on his invitation to come and see. Come and see the inside of the kingdom here and now.
An adaptation of Psalm 46 – from Regent College Orientation 2021
God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
So we will not fear
—even if the ground gives way,
—even if the mountains fall into the ocean.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
So we will not fear
—even if our lives feel broken or stalled,
and all our attempts to fix them ourselves have failed.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Our God is the Maker of all things:
He knows our frailness, yet he holds us together.
Our God is the Lord of history:
He knows our every need, and he guides our lives.
He says, “Be still! Stop striving! Let go!
—and know that I am God.”
The Lord of Hosts is with us; may we put our hope in him.
Things to help you flourish:
JOY. Find it anywhere. Why some things create joy & others don't.
Artistic empathy. The Pit of Despair: The Arc of Every Long Project.
Laugh. Better for you than you know. 🤣 Prince Charming's First Kiss.
