Manic Monday

Growing up, I remember a commercial on television depicting a stressed-out housewife in her fluffy pink robe walking through a war zone of a home. The dog had tracked mud on the carpet. Dinner was burning. The children were crying, and the phone was ringing off the hook. The camera zoomed in as the frazzled female looked to the sky and exclaimed, “Calgon, take me away!” The next frame showed her relaxing quietly in a luxurious bubble bath scented by the moisturizer. The commercial was effective. I wanted to buy some beads. I’ve been looking for a Calgon escape of my own recently. The reality is, regardless of how nicely scented they are, bath beads can’t “take us away” – and, even if they could, the problems would still be there when we dried off! That’s the world for you. It is not encouraging us to press on in the troubled times of life, but rather endorsing how to get out of them. God’s Word, however, teaches us differently. The Bible is clear storms are a fact of life. We are never guaranteed a comfortable life, but rather a comforted one. God’s promise is that He is with us. Psalm 91:15 says, “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.” The Lord assures us He won’t abandon us in the midst of hard times. He even pledges to transform us through them. There will be more manic Mondays, wacky Wednesdays, and freaky Fridays. Don’t think those Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays won’t throw you, too. However, I like what I’m learning. I cannot say it better than Annie Flint when she penned:

Not always OUT of our troubled times, And the struggles fierce and grim, But IN – deeper IN—to our sure rest, The place of our peace, in Him.