“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3

Overall, it was a very, very bad day. I praise God those don’t come very often. But, like it or not, there it was. Sitting at the car dealer, I was awaiting repair on a recall notice for my truck. In my dark mood, I had taken a book off my shelf that had been there for decades… “The Joyful Christian.” by C.S. Lewis. In it was written, “to the most joyful Christian I know! THANK YOU. Katie.”

The date of her writing was 1979, a year and half into our marriage. I remembered that in that year, there were some big issues, too. But overall, ‘Joy’ was winning. Yesterday, and 45 years later, it didn’t feel that way. So I did what I learned to do long ago… I grabbed a book and crawled into a hole. I hadn’t checked out long when I got a text from my daughter containing MORE bad news!

A friend her age, with 2 small children her kid’s age, was being rushed to the hospital. Cancer has moved though her quickly with shocking speed. I’d met Fernanda once near Christmas. She was bubbly and full of life… her husband and kids were a joy. Now, with what’s been going on in the world, news of her makes me want to dig deeper to flee from the pain. A condition even Jesus experienced.

Psalm 10:1, 13:1, and 22:1 are questions that implicate God as the originator of bad news and events. Even Jesus said, “My God, my God WHY have you forsaken me?” So how am ‘I’ supposed to understand and help my daughter with an answer? Then I came upon today’s verse. It doesn’t have a solid ‘do this’ answer, but presents me with a better question God can answer. “What can ‘I’ do now, God?”

When bad news, dark days, hard times and impossible odds ring my doorbell, I have discovered that the best thing to do is to run to God and simply WAIT. Trust. Lean in. And ask. I know God didn’t CAUSE the bad issues that face us, most of those come from living in a sinful world. But God IS ACTIVE and ‘working things out.’ (Romans 8:28). So today.. I pray… and listen. Will you join me?

Please pray for Fernanda, her family and her friends. It is something we ALL CAN DO. Thank you.