Strong

This weekend we traveled to Santa Barbara to visit our son and his best friend who fell over thirty feet off a cliff. 
Entering the ICU, I felt anxious and afraid. 
What would he look like? Could I offer comfort to his family that didn't sound like a bad Hallmark card? 
Crisis.
These are the moments where what has gone before determines what happens next. 
No one can plan how to respond when the unbelievable happens. 
We react in the moment of a crisis. 
Our storehouse of faith is flung open wide fueling the great need to find peace and comfort. 
This is not the time to build our faith for what's desperately needed now!

Control.
I have experienced these crisis moments and every time I feel as if I can't breathe. 
It stops me short. The jumble of emotions that cause my heart to race fuels me to action. 
Yet in the midst of all this swirling, there's a subtle shift from reaction to realization. 
God is in control. 
Everything is under His care. He already knows. 
Oh I flounder, dragging up fears that vie for my attention. But when I come up for air, and listen.
I can hear his voice. 
"Tell Me", He whispers. If I still my heart, I can hear the invitation."Tell Me". 
The dawning of this opportunity seeps into my panic-ridden mind. 
Stregthen.
It takes great energy to silence the siren of despair.
I come to Him with my pleadings. 
Oswald Chambers said that God did not give us overcoming life; He gave us life as we overcome. The strain is the strength. If there is no strain there is no strength.

Truth.
Oh how I want to be strong in my faith. 
Which means I'm willing to join Him in the strain of it all, asking for what this life will bring; sorrow and joy. 
God is close, ready to reveal His mercies and glorious truths. 
Are we strong enough to hear Him?