Skip to main content

When You Want to Run Away




Does it ever feel 
like life is ganging up 
on you so much that you want to run away?







Get in line and take a number. You would probably be #89,427,893,973. That's eighty-nine billion, four hundred twenty-seven million, eight hundred ninety-three thousand, and nine hundred seventy-three.

We may feel as though we'd like to find the escape route, but others may not know it. People ask the standard question: "How are you?" And as long as we supply the stock answer ("Fine") we can usually get away with pretending to be fine. It is incredibly easy to cover up our true feelings, leaving people completely unaware that we're entertaining fantasies of a hasty escape from the pile-up of stress. 

I laughed and shook my head when I read this in my morning Bible study:
"I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest." (Psalm 55:8)

Hey King David, wait for me!

We are clearly not the first to feel so overwhelmed with the relentless pounding of life that we're looking for an "escape." This feeling of wanting to fly away is as old as the Old Testament. 

"And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest." (Psalm 55:6)

These words were written when the Psalmist was in the midst of so much trouble that he even described it as having a physical effect on his being: "My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me." (Psalm 55:4) Yes, adversity can actually cause physical pain, as well as the obvious emotional turmoil.

But it gets deeper: Our flesh adds fear to the mix, putting us in an almost unbearable position as we play that terrible mind game called "Worst Case Scenario." Again, this is nothing new, because the Psalmist fell into this trap as well: "Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me." (Psalm 55:5)

I can almost feel the shivering. When our thoughts run wild, we are adding torment to an already tough time.

Are we able to live like this? Temporarily yes, but permanently, no. All of these emotional responses were meant to be like a winter season in life that would come, last a little while, and then cycle away.

Mourning

Complaining

Fearfulness

Overwhelmed

These emotions are real and not to be taken lightly. It is not unusual during times of intense pressue to want to stay in bed with the covers pulled up to the chin. I call them "pajama days," where your pajamas are your fashion statement, and your hair stays in the position it was in when you woke up that morning.

Thankfully, this is a temporary phase and we do have relief, if we'll accept it. We even have Someone to rescue us. Never forget that God has not lost track of us just because things have gotten outrageously difficult or discouraging. Tough times rotate, but we may forget this when we're in the midst of a longer form of affliction. Still, God weaves in periods of sweet relief and we'll experience these reprieves if we're paying attention. In fact, the very trial itself may be a beautiful gift...wrapped in ugly paper.

When will we comprehend the fact that God sees differently than we see?

What we see as terrifying looks like training to Him. 

What seems perilous to us is strengthening.

What looks utterly impossible to us is actually a miracle in progress.

Think about it: when we are living comfortably, is our prayer life as intense as it is when we're living in the discomfort zone? Not usually. Does that mean we need affliction to cause us to pray? This is not always the case. Often it's more an issue of the quality of the time we're spending with God. We all tend to run to the Lord in repeated earnest and fervent prayer when we need Him most. Have you noticed by now that neediness is a regular rotation in life?

It is very wise to spend deep and abiding time with the Lord daily, especially when life is calm. That way, we're already very close to Him when the thunder of adversity shakes our world. And we can cry aloud to God anytime, day or night: "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice." (Psalm 55:17) 

He shall hear my voice.

What can you do when  you wish you could escape the burdens of your life? Cast them over to God. "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." (Psalm 55:22)

The word "cast" in this verse is not a light term. It's not like you're gently passing the basket of burdens. Oh no. This is more like what you would do if a venomous viper latched onto your hand! You wouldn't just pass a viper and say, "Here, take this thing. I don't want it."

You'd THROW it!

You'd HURL it!

You'd FLING it!

You'd SHED that thing as fast as you could!

That's what God wants us to do with our burdens. Throw, hurl, fling, and shed! He can handle the "venomous situations." We cannot. And God adds His sustaining grace to our lives in precisely the measure needed, at exactly the right time.

We may have days when we feel like running--or flying away, but the best place to go is straight to the Lord in prayer. Watch how He rescues you. Prepare to be amazed.


"The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace." (Psalm 29:11) 

https://www.gofundme.com/normans-kick-the-cancer-fund

Francie Taylor






Comments

  1. Francie,
    I really needed this blog this morning! Thank you! I'm praying for you and Norm, God bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is so true and so good! I pray for you and your husband every day. Romans 8:28

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you so much for your post today..i was blessed to teach a lesson to our Sunday school class ladies this past wkend, titled 'Lord, Comfort Me in Times of Trouble"...we serve an Awesome God who longs too comfort us in our most trying times. I was saddened to hear about you husband..but at the same, i know our God is Sovereign, loving, kind, full of compassion. I will be praying for your husband, you n your family... Isaiah 41:10...
    I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold there with the right hand of my righteousness..love in Christ Jesus, Venita

    ReplyDelete
  4. Francie, thank you for your post. A precious friend of mine shared it on her Facebook. What a confirmation and affirmation of what our Lord has been showing me. Love it, "Hey King David, wait for me!" Yep can totally relate. I have ran in the past and not long ago I determine not to run any more. Thank you for the vivid picture of casting our burdens on our Lord. I hadn't thought of it that way and love how you point out how our beloved Lord can handle the venemous situation. Encouraging to my heart thank you �� To GOD be ALL the GLORY

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Parents Are Not Responsible for That

Parenthood is not a role for wimps or whiners. There are the exciting times such as music recitals, sports tournaments, and graduations. But if your tribe is like ours, you've probably also had the maddening moments, like the time one of our children discovered how to unfasten the tapes on his diaper and used the contents as "chalk" on the bedroom  wall (yes, it was "his," so that narrows the field of suspects). Children are young for a few blinks, and then we spin around and we're hearing "Pomp and Circumstance," that familiar graduation march as our "babies" walk down the aisle in cap and gown. If they choose to go on to college, four snaps later, we're sitting in the auditorium at their college graduation, scanning a long list of names in the commencement bulletin while waiting to watch them walk across the platform to receive yet another diploma. It's warp-speed fast (except that diaper stage). Parents don't min

What Just Happened?

I find myself praying in questions lately. "Lord, what just happened here?" (This time last month, we were walking a sandy beach in Florida, calling it our "last anniversary vacation.") "Did you REALLY take my Norman ALREADY ?" (I spent way too much time on Google, and all the articles said that Norman had a chance of surviving at least a year.) " LORD , are you SURE I can endure all this excruciating pain?" (I'm certain that I cannot bear this, but obviously, if I'm typing, I'm still bearing this somehow. Only God.) The last anniversary vacation Now here's what I do not want after you've read this: platitudes. Absolutely no platitudes. (Platitude: Overused statement applied liberally and repeatedly in an attempt to comfort or instruct. Paraphrased definition.) Example: "Heaven is getting sweeter." I understand that this is a phrase from a song, and it is not offensive in any way. It j

The Not Yets

We pray. We wait. We repeat. We pray. We wait. We repeat... What's on your waiting list of prayers? I call this my list of  Not Yets.   The waiting period of prayer is labor, and this labor builds strength. We may think that we would prefer to just have our answers without the strength-training, but God loves us too much to give us whatever we want.  It is possible for an adult to be just as spoiled as a toddler. Parents know what happens when they let toddlers have their way. It's chaos and crabbiness. We are grown up toddlers if we are only happy when things are going our way. Waiting and praying through some very uncomfortable situations is "wait training" at its best. We wait. We grow. We learn how to patiently endure, and then the next waiting period doesn't seem as hard. "Wait on the L ORD : be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the L ORD ." (Psalm 27:14) The list of Not Yets