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March 2020

With thanks to Mr Mike Bache for this month’s contribution.

   

There are times when life gets on top of us, and pressures and demands just get too much.  We may feel everything is under control with life running along smoothly, but one setback or disappointment can change our whole perspective and send us spiralling out of control.  

Maybe it’s trying to help a friend with a problem that goes totally wrong, or that little irritation that comes along and you know that you just have to deal with it.

The other day I noticed that the curtain pole was hanging off the wall – the raw plug had pulled out of the wall and needed replacing.    An irritation which I could have well done without, I was busy enough as it was, and my DIY skills are pretty limited, but I knew that if I didn’t fix it, the whole thing might come crashing down.    So,  I set too.  

A quick fix – or so I thought.    Having replaced the raw plug, it still pulled out of the wall, and I had to drill deeper and as a result, the hole got bigger and I had to get a bigger raw plug to fix it.   Still it didn’t work and still the pole pulled away from the wall  – my frustration, as you can imagine, was growing by the minute.     I had no choice but to start again.   Fill in the old holes and drill two new ones before the fix was complete.   

All too many can testify to the mind numbing, strength sapping effect of stress, and that sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach which has the capacity to drive us to the brink of despair and beyond.    However, I was not prepared for that curtain pole to get the better of me.   During this little  adventure the words of Psalm 130 kept running through my head:

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice.   Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.”

Faith does not supply easy solutions in times of despair, but it does give us something to hold on to.  Put our trust in God and we will find that he is there to hold our heads above water until the storm subsides and calm returns.  

In Love and prayer, Mike