Live chosen. What does it mean? I’ve been asking myself that ever since I signed up to do this blog post. How hard could it be to write about daily life? Then I sat down to write and nothing came. How could I explain it? Would I come across as hypocritical? Then today happened.
Monday morning just before six o’clock, I’m ready to hop in the shower to start the week as a teacher. I’ve had a wonderful weekend with family and a conference. A loud CRACK shatters the stillness, followed by the twisting of metal, and a dump truck emptying its load of rock. I rush to a window and look out. I can’t see much, but the electric pole across the street is at an odd angle. An RV a block down turns on its lights, and a car has pulled up to our neighbor’s coffee shop which hasn’t opened. The parked car turns off his lights, and the RV turns onto the highway and leaves. I’m tasked with the job of calling the power company, while my husband heads out to work.
Still curious, I look out my window and see people walking around at the coffee shop. My husband stops to see what’s going on, and I call the power company and head back to the delayed shower. Dawn spreads across the sky while I’m in the shower. The light reveals more than we had seen before as does my husband who swings back home to pick up a forgotten name tag.
The parked car had split the power pole, leaving it to tilt at a forty-five degree angle, before plowing through a rock wall and coming to a stop in front of the coffee shop. Miraculously, the driver walked around with only a limp as he explained he’d fallen asleep with cruise control on. Thankfully, no one else was in the vehicle with him.
Fixing breakfast, I watch the proceedings, from fire department showing up to ambulance coming and going, to police and finally wrecker an hour and a half later as I’m leaving for work. My mind grapples with the frailty of life and how God can protect. Then I check my email at school and discover a student has lost her mother. My heart races, and my heart breaks for her. Barely a year ago, she lost her dad in a fishing boat accident.
How can we live chosen in times like these? I’ve found three ways to make it through the day and live chosen.
1. Choose to Trust
It’s easy to forget, to get swallowed in the waves of despair. Instead, we need to do as the song says and ask the Lord to “Help me to know you are God, I am not.” It’s a conscious decision to put aside our fears and worries and allow Him to be who He is. That leads us to the next point.
2. Know who God Is
Really get to know God. When we understand who He is, we know we can trust Him. I’m reminded of a friend who read Timothy Zahn’s The Icarus Hunt. The book is one of my favorite mystery stories, even though or maybe because it’s set in space! This science fiction story has all the makings of a who-done-it. There were times when my friend was ready to put the book down because of the suspense, and yet, he paused and thought. “Wait a minute. I know Timothy. He wouldn’t end this badly.” Knowing the author, enabled my friend to continue reading. It was a matter of trust. It’s the same with God. When we know Him, and I mean really know Him, we can trust Him.
3. Don’t Forget
In Sunday School, we’re studying about the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. One of the big take aways is how easily they forgot and then they fall into sin by complaining and grumbling and not trusting God. This whole idea of our short-term memory is scary. When trials come my way, do I fall into panic and forget what God has done in the past? This morning as I struggled with despair, I turned on Pandora, and heard Laura Story’s Blessings. That reminded me of a time several years ago when I would hear that song over and over again and through it, God walked me through pain and surgery. That simple reminder, was enough to know He could do the same with today.
What about you? How do you live chosen? Do you struggle with trusting, forgetting, or knowing God’s character? We’d love to hear your feedback. Thanks for reading and be sure to enter the GIVEAWAY!!!
Get to Know Kandi...
Even as a young girl, Kandi J Wyatt, had a knack for words. She loved to read them, even if it was on a shampoo bottle! By high school Kandi had learned to put words together on paper to create stories for those she loved. Nowadays, she writes for her kids, whether that's her own five or the hundreds of students she's been lucky to teach. When Kandi's not spinning words to create stories, she's using them to teach students about Spanish, life, and leadership.
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