There are times when it seems it is impossible to cope with one more thing and then disaster strikes.
Yesterday we had a freak windstorm and somehow it managed to completely upend my glass patio table, flip it over and shatter it. I wasn't home when it happened because I was out running a million errands and dealing with other problems. So it was really annoying when my family told me how they heard a crash and there it was. A big mess.
We had a number of lovely things on the table. A glass bowl, my daughter's beautiful crystals, and rocks, A little statue of Jesus, a plant. I enjoyed sitting at the table nearly every morning to have my coffee, pray and look at my hummingbirds in the garden. Yesterday it was more than I could cope with. But the mess was waiting for me when I went out to pray this morning. So I set two of my chairs upright and faced away from the mess and prayed anyway. There would be time later to address the disaster.
A broken table is really not that big a deal. I happen to have some mobility problems with my bad back, so it will be a bit of a challenge, but my family will help and order will be restored to my prayer garden.
But sometimes things are beyond our earthly control. Sometimes things are bigger than what we can handle. The death of a parent or child. A financial collapse. An illness.
At times like these, I have felt completely inadequate to deal with whatever is in front of me. It is bigger than me. I don't know enough. I am not strong enough, young enough, smart enough. I am not enough.
But not being enough is actually good news.
Because that is where God comes in. We only imagine that we are in control of things and can fix everything. The truth is HE is the one who can lead us through the disaster, the mess, the grief. He is the one we should always lean on. He will show us where to step to avoid being cut by glass, or how not to be swallowed by the wind and the waves.
I know it may seem unbelievable at times that Jesus - this invisible God - can actually help us. But He does. We have to turn to Him, though. We have to calm down, pray and listen. And then He will take us by the hand and one step at a time, one piece of glass at a time, He will lead us through.
There will always be storms, and illnesses, and strife. Things will break and get lost and fall apart. That is the way our world works. But Jesus never changes. He is the rock. He is the foundation that we can always return to. The place where we can start again.
One final note: I do find it interesting that my statue of Jesus and the Children survived being thrown to the concrete and having a heavy glass table fall on it. The statue is a little plaster piece that I got at a thrift store. It should have been turned to powder.
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