On the Tablet of My Heart

Storms come.  Sometimes there are warnings, and we are able to prepare in advance.  Sometimes storms take us by surprise.  The same is true with the storms of life. I remember learning this lesson as a young child in Sunday school. Our teacher taught us the song, " The Wise Man Built His House upon the Rock ," and shared Jesus's words from Matthew 7:24-25, "Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock." Before the age of ten, I knew that if I built my life on the Word of God, I could not be shaken.  But life does have a way of shaking us, doesn't it? My child-like faith was a pure and beautiful thing.  But then middle school hit.  Peer pressure and an identity crisis swirled like storms.  I scrambled for relationships like life rafts, only to...

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up." Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 As I read through these verses and those that follow, do you know what I don't see?  I DON'T see a single verse that says, "A time to fear." With the recent developments, many are experiencing fear, or at least high levels of anxiety and concern due to the new coronavirus, COVID-19.  If we aren't frightened by the virus itself, we are concerned about the economy, the schools and businesses closing, how we are going to care for our families, or - at the very least - where we might be able to purchase toilet paper! Believe me, I'm not trying to minimize legitimate concerns, but I do want to offer an alternative perspective.  First of all, realize that fear itself can be pandem...