Lingering more with God.
Yes. Absolutely yes.
When I am in crisis I am tempted to go into “grab the reins” mode, as though I am on a runaway stagecoach and it is entirely up to me to save the contents of my wagon rom careening off of a cliff.
In our home, we call a frantic lunge for the reins "orphan" mode, a posture of desperate fear believing no one else is in charge.
Attempting to seize control is an understandable response to crisis. It is what children without parents must do for survival.
But we have parents. We have a Father. And not just any Father. During times of crisis is when we draw in closer, burying our face in our Father’s embrace, clinging more tightly because it is scary out there. And watching to see how He handles “adult” problems that are out of our league.
We see what is coming at us, and we size up our Father!
My Daddy is FAITHFUL. My Daddy is the strongest in the whole universe! My Daddy never takes His eyes off me! I’m the apple of my Daddy’s eye! My Daddy is committed to me. My Daddy moves me out of harm’s way. Nothing could ever separate me from my Daddy’s love.
In the midst of the worst affronts, our praise gets more adamant, more animated, as we celebrate the Truth of Who our Father is, and our Relief buried and resurrected in God.
Self-preservation?
Oh what a different posture He invites us to adopt! We revel in our own adoption, an adoption with full rights of inheritance and full acceptance by our Father who chose us on the basis of His goodness and not on the basis of ours.
With palms open before God we neither attempt to control outcome, nor steer resolution. “That is risky”, our adversary tells us. “It’s better to know where you’re headed”, he seethes. Father’s hater shows us catastrophe if we “don’t plan ahead”, with no acknowledgement of the fact we cannot plan for as many permutations as are possible over the next few months of a crisis season, ensuring our frantic attempts at reparations of our security are fraught with anxiety.
We can loose our grip on our Father while juggling between possible eventualities, now consumed with orchestrating our own redemption.
“Do not be afraid, little one” our Father comforts, arms outstretched invitationally. These are His concerns. He has the connections, the resources, the networking, the knowledge; He even knows the number of days written in His book for us and our loved ones, whether they be few or many.
The assurance we need is not a detailed inventory of outcome; we need assurance that no matter what, everything will be all right.
You are held by your Father. A highly competent Someone is engaged in your story. And you, indeed, will be all right, no matter what the outcome of your particulars.
“For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him.” (2 Timothy 1:12)