Securing Our Chair

“We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” 2 Co 1:8-9

When I was a little girl there was a game that would be played at birthday parties and sometimes in gym called Musical Chairs.  It wasn’t my favorite game because there was no guarantee of a chair to sit in.  The vulnerability of being left standing while others were comfortably sitting seemed anything but fun.  In addition to that vulnerability I can’t tell you the times when I thought I had secured my seat only to be shoved out of it.  Sometimes life provides that same endless circle of trying to grab a seat of normalcy.  We look for a seat to sit in but the chairs are all full.  Everyone else’s life seems to be predictably comfortable and there we are standing with overwhelming circumstances, vulnerable and feeling all alone. 

Over the past couple of days, it has become painstakingly obvious that people have been given way too much to handle.  I have received so many messages from precious friends who are barely keeping their heads above water.  I found myself crying in the shower yesterday overwhelmed with horrible circumstances that great people are having to face.  Sometimes it seems that life can be stingy with the chairs and circumstances shove us out of the comfort of the chair we think we’ve secured.  People love to say that God doesn’t give us more than we can handle but that is not Biblical.  In reality, the Bible is filled with examples and heartbreaks of people who received much more than a heart should.  Just ask Jesus as He begged for a different ending until his sweat dripped as blood.  Just ask Mary as she watched the horrific torture of her son.  Just ask Peter as he was murdered upside down on a cross for sharing the message of Christ.  All of this was more than they could handle but the one thing they had is the same thing we have…a sovereign God who is working out every detail of every hardship we face...a loving Father who knows exactly how to comfort His children...a mighty Commander who goes before us fighting our battles.

For the mother whose child is a prodigal…you are not alone.  For the person who must sit in the chemo chair…God is sitting in the chair beside you.  For the grieving heart who must face Christmas without their loved one…God will personally carry you through this season.  For you…and for me…God will be our strength when we are depleted of our strength.  There is not one detail of our suffering that God doesn’t know about and even if we can’t trace His hand, we can trust His heart.  He is our empty chair waiting for us to settle into His rest.