When Life Starts to Crumble
By Cindi McMenamin
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change…” – Psalm 46:1-2
I had just returned from a 10-day trip to North Africa with my family. I had heavy jet lag and a week left to turn in my book manuscript, that was already given a one-month extension. And as I was clearing my schedule to focus on nothing else that week but finishing my book manuscript, I received the call.
My mom had stage 4 non-smoker’s lung cancer. What started as a spot on her lung a few months earlier had quickly spread to her chest cavity, bones, and lymph nodes. She was given less than six months to live.
Immediately my mind tried to figure it out or fix it.
Do I fly across the country to see her right now?
Do I take my husband and daughter with me too as this might be their last opportunity to see her?
How long do we really have?
What about this book I needed to finish writing?
I knew better than to think This couldn’t have happened at a worse time, because I know by now that all God’s ways are perfect (according to Psalm 18:30)—including His timing—and He still has the ability to work all things for good in my life, and my mom’s.
As much as I tried to control it or figure it all out, I realized I couldn’t. God is in control. And this did not take Him by surprise. He is not the God of panic, but the God of peace. He’s not the God of chaos or confusion, but of calm. He’s not the God of stress, but of rest.
Whenever I tried to do something—book a flight, coordinate my visit schedule with my siblings, figure out what I couldn’t figure out, imagine all the possible future scenarios, there was stress, a racing pulse, frustration. But whenever I stepped back and opened my palms before God and prayed, “I trust You, Jesus” there was only peace. Warm, blanketing, incomprehensible peace.
Cancer is horrible. Death is a ravaging destroyer. But only God can bring peace and even beauty to a time that might otherwise be devastating. During the next few days I had nothing but beautiful conversations with my mother over the phone, tender times in prayer with my Lord, and treasured conversations with my adult daughter who was losing her Grandmother. And God opened the way for me to go be with my mom, without the stress or fears of the future.
I have learned three things in the midst of what feels like life is crumbling.
1. God is faithful. If plans or hopes or expectations crumble, our foundation never will if it’s set on Christ, our Rock. God is steady. He is stable. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:22 RSV).
2. God’s peace and presence is real—even when there’s no explanation for it other than Philippians 4:6-7 which tells us to worry about nothing, and instead pray about everything with thanksgiving and God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds.
2. The church—the body of Christ—is God’s gift to us when we need support, encouragement, and to feel the hands and heart of Jesus.
Perhaps God wanted me to know, as I wrapped up my book called The New Loneliness, that He sends His arms to hug us and His words to comfort us and His hope to ignite us through His Word and through other believers… to sustain us and help prepare us for what He knows lies ahead.
In the midst of struggle, mine and my mom’s, God is good. In the midst of what otherwise might produce panic, God brings peace. In the midst of what could be confusing and even chaotic, God’s presence brings a calmness.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
What seems to be falling apart around you? I know it can seem like God’s not there or that He doesn’t care, but I encourage you to do the following:
- Know God is there to get you through and pull you closer to Him than you’ve ever been.
- Lean in ever closer to Christ your Rock, your refuge, your never-changing bulwark of protection, your unswerving peace.
- Remember this unchanging truth: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, Therefore we will not fear though the earth (and everything on it) should change…” (Psalm 46:2).
Further Reading:
Psalm 46:1-7
Lamentations 3:21-26
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/KatarzynaBialasiewicz
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