Take the past little while in our house. It was Christmas vacation around here: no school, no work (of the official sort), nothing to do except... care for 6 newborn puppies? Yes, it appears our dog decided this December was a good time to add to our household an extra pile of little bodies with hungry mouths. She, of course, didn't know that this Christmas was supposed to be quiet. Just the 6 of us, plus ONE dog. And these little guys are very cute, and not as much work as they could possibly be, but they weren't part of my original plan for vacation. Not that much of Christmas vacation turned out the way I had originally envisioned it, anyway. We ended up enjoying the company of several different family members from out of town. At one point, we had 5 adults, 8 children and 7 dogs in our house at one time (and our house is not tiny, but it's not that big, either). It was fun and great to see everyone and I'm truly glad they all came, but it could hardly be described as a "quiet" vacation. Then there was the moodiness that comes from kids off of their normal routine--they were actually begging me to start them back to school early. Add to these circumstances the fact that I am an introvert, and recharge by having time alone to think and read and write, something that was not available to me over the past few weeks (with the one blessed exception of Christmas Day itself, when it was just us here alone and I managed to get 50 pages into a novel)... and by last week I was ready for a vacation from vacation! And all these things seem rather trivial compared to the news we received over Christmas that a friend was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour.
We took a vacation, but life didn't.
How good it is then, that God also doesn't take vacations! He didn't take any vacations in 2012, and He won't be taking any in 2013, either. In the midst of the unexpected, the difficult, the chaotic, the heart-breaking, He is always there. When I feel like things are so busy that I don't even have time to think, He never stops thinking. When my devotion times are short or distracted (or both), He never ceases to offer grace. When hard trials come in the midst of what is supposed to be a peaceful, joyous time, He never refrains from being a refuge and strength. And even when things are actually quiet and calm, He never takes a few moments to doze off.
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
(Psalm 121)
This morning, we headed back into the "normal" routine. And guess what? Life didn't stop happening then, either. I finished my morning workout, only to discover that those children who had been playing so pleasantly together were pretending to be puppies, complete with milk all over the kitchen floor (because you know, of course, that puppies drink out of bowls on the ground). School got off to a later, rougher start than I had hoped. And one particular real puppy has become quite adept at climbing out of the puppy box, so I've spent some time today cleaning up after him and trying to keep him relatively confined. At times like these, the temptation to want a vacation from real life can become very strong. But that's when I need to remember that God hasn't left the wheel. He is firmly in control of all the stuff of life, working in little trials when I need to remember that life is not mine to control and plan as I wish, giving grace to keep serving when I don't think I can handle any more, and granting little oases of calm in the middle of what seems like unrelenting motion.
Life doesn't take vacations. But neither does the God of all grace.
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