It’s really cold here today in Northwest Arkansas. Right now (4:05 p.m.), it’s 14 degrees. The windchill is 5 degrees. Of course, if you live in International Falls, Minnesota, our temperature might feel balmy.
Even when it’s this cold, I don’t mind being outside without a coat, as long as I know how long it’ll last. Even if it was going to be 15 or 20 minutes, I could stand the cold, knowing there was an end in sight and what the outcome (a warm house or car) would be. I can take a lot if I know how long it’s going to last and that it’s going to get better.
It’s a totally different story if I don’t know how long it’ll be or I’m not sure things are going to get better.
A few nights ago, one of my daughters was in a car accident. She and her friend were not hurt seriously, for which I was very thankful. The car didn’t fare so well though. The body shop called today. The car is totaled.
The other driver was at fault, but regardless, the outstanding loan balance on our car will most likely exceed the fair market value. (If you know what gap insurance is and are wondering if I have it, the answer is “no.”) That means that after the insurance company cuts a check for the car, I will still owe more to the finance company and will not have a car.
Doesn’t seem fair, does it?
Doesn’t to me, but that’s just the way it works. I don’t like it, but it’s reality. So now I can either worry about the amount the insurance company will offer and what to do when it doesn’t pay off the loan and how to get another car for my daughter…or I can believe God is in control, already has a solution and simply calls me to trust Him.
For you, it may not be an insurance company you’re waiting to hear from, but a doctor or your boss or a potential new employer or an angry spouse. Maybe you’ve been seeking God and asking Him to work, but so far, nothing has happened and you can’t see an end in sight.
It’s hard to not know how long a trial will last or how things will turn out, but we do know the One who does know and He is good and He can be trusted.
Is that enough for you? Faith is not knowing how or when or even what, but knowing and trusting Who.
The alternative is living in a state of fear, worry and anxiety. I’d like to put that state behind me.