All Other Things Seem Small…

Daylight Savings Time won’t be a problem today. I don’t have to worry about over-sleeping in the morning, because I am already up at 4:52am (formerly 3:52am pre-DST). In fact, I’ve been awake since around 3:00am. It wasn’t the plan, but it is the reality.

After rearranging myself and the covers and the pillow a few times, I finally resolved that I was awake. Then came the inner griping – after all, griping out loud would only wake Nancy up. There was no need for both us to be awake. After my little pity party, my mind drifted northward – to my sister and her husband.

My brother-in-law Keith is in critical condition after he suffered head trauma in an accident on Friday night. His skull is fractured and he has bleeding on his brain. My sister Susan is by his side, weeping, praying, and hoping that he’ll pull through this. I can’t imagine the heartache she is experiencing now, but I put my little gripe session on hold to join her in her prayers. I invite you to do the same.

Events like this are not-so-gentle reminders that the things that bother us so much one moment become infinitely insignificant in light of life and death situations. As I continued to pray for Keith, Susan, and the family, the Lord brought to mind others who are hurting. I took the time to lift up prayers for them, as well.

Here’s the bottom line – Life is filled with little annoyances and major heartaches… AND life is filled with moments of pure joy and times of incredible peace. Through both, God is faithful, He is near, He cares, and He joins us in both our joys and sorrows. He has also given us people to bring a loving physical touch to us.

I hated waking up way too early on Sunday morning, but it’s a small thing… and it became an opportunity to pray for God to intervene in the lives of the hurting, the grieving, the hopeless, the struggling, and the lost.

We would be wise to spend some time each day reflecting on those things that are most important, telling the people in our lives how much we love them, and confessing how self-centered we can too often become. Life is precious, death is certain, grief hurts, and eternity is a long time. Let’s live as if we actually believe those things are true.