Hello friend,
I write to you with a heart that I bet feels similarly to yours in the wake of the unspeakably horrific and earth-shakingly tragic events that have taken place, and are taking place, in the Middle East right now. I haven’t wept this much in a single week since my last miscarriage nearly two years ago.
I woke up Saturday morning to horrifying headlines that my mom texted me. For four straight days, I was glued to Instagram, following the stories and feeds of Israeli citizens, soldiers, and independent journalists as they posted updates from their shelters around the nation. I have had heart palpitations since it began, which I haven’t had, at least not to this degree of frequency and duration, since my first miscarriage three years ago.
Mid-week, I took my husband’s wise advice and removed myself from Instagram. I still have my account, but Ben changed my password and is under strict orders not to give it to me! It’s for my own good, as I was becoming consumed by and, frankly, addicted to, the nonstop news that was filling me with anxiety, anger, confusion, and debilitating grief.
In this week’s Bible studies, the ladies and I were in the last few verses of Romans 12. Verse 15 was especially timely, as it tells believers to “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
Just because I’ve bid farewell to Instagram doesn’t mean I’ve stopped weeping for the victims, their loved ones, and the civilians on both side who are currently caught in the fray of the ongoing war.
It means I’m not being tempted to have my time monopolized by circumstances outside my control.
It means I’m refusing to have traumatizing images burned into my brain.
It means I’m creating more time for the Holy Spirit to impress upon my spirit His wisdom and peace and to perfectly direct my prayers.
It means I’m humbling myself before the sovereignty of God instead of trying to figure out – as if that were possible – what’s exactly going on behind the carefully constructed news that’s being propagated.
I don’t want to bury my head in the sand, as some seem to be doing. I believe it’s important, primarily for the purposes of prayer and preparation, to know what’s going on beyond our communities and the comfortable, though increasingly precarious, predictability of our everyday routines.
Jesus promised us tribulation (John 16:33). He told us those who follow Him, i.e., Christians, would be hated because the world first hated Him (Matt. 10:22; Matt. 24:9). We know from multiple biblical texts that there will be endless conflict in the Holy Land (Zech. 12:2-3 is but one of many examples). Jesus also prophesied, in Matthew 24, that both natural and geopolitical catastrophes “must happen” before the end comes.
Why do I say all of that? Because we shouldn’t be surprised by what’s unfolding. We can be shocked, of course, by the sheer, diabolical evil of our enemies, but when we read our Bibles, we have no choice but to see that it’s all happening just as the biblical prophets, Christ chief among them, foresaw and foretold.
Anyway. As a writer, I think – okay I know – that I tend to overthink and overanalyze, which so often leads to overwhelm. So, if you find yourself doing the same things right now, I encourage you to ask God for strength, peace, and practical tools, such as unplugging from social media, to help focus your heart on Him and on your unique God-given calling in the lives of those around you.
Here are a few verses my husband sent me this week that I know will bless you:
“Say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.’” – Isaiah 35:4
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10
“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” – Psalm 34:17
“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” – Psalm 94:19
“Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes” – Jeremiah 17:7-8
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” – Psalm 23:5
The following isn’t a verse, but a beautiful, timely poem by Wendell Berry that James Clear featured in his weekly email yesterday:
“When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”