Fear and Trembling

Welcome back family! A new year is upon us. 2021 felt like 2020 part two for many of us and then we realized this year is pronounced 2020 too (embrace the dad jokes this year). Nevertheless, we persist and soldier on. Perhaps one of the major lessons of the last two years is that we can’t tie our hope and joy entirely to what is happening around us. 

If I can be honest, my spiritual life sucked in 2021. My devotion time was weak and my prayer life even weaker. I did a horrible job of leading my family in worship  and pushing my family to pursue Jesus. I don’t listen to much music but when I did it was mostly Frozen (not by choice) or something else…I could have at least listened to more worship music. 

Given all of this, it’s no surprise that upon reflection, 2021 was one of the most disconnected, melancholic years of my life. It was as though I was covered by a cloud of sadness and despair. I think there are many reasons for that: another year in the pandy, sustained unemployment, long days at home, old feelings of inadequacy creeping its ugly head…no need to bore you with the laundry list. 

But things got bad. To the point where I even questioned my position as a child of God. That, of course, is a lie of the enemy. One of those perfectly timed fiery darts that attempted to pierce me while I was down. But that led me to Paul’s words in Philippians 2:12, specifically to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  I think Paul is calling us to shift our gaze there. To focus our hearts and eyes on the one who saves us.

Thinking about last year and the things that stressed me out, I realize that so much of it was because I viewed my life through the wrong lens. I had a year of creativity, significant accomplishment, and time with my family in critical moments that I’ll never get back. I actually did spend a fair amount of time reading the Bible, and although I may not listen to much music, I did listen to a ton of Bible based podcasts. Sometimes we just need to shift our perspective. 

Not Alone

Chances are, you felt some or all of what I felt last year. I’ve had plenty of conversations with people to know that I wasn’t alone in those feelings. I want us all to take comfort in knowing that our salvation isn’t contingent on a bad day, week, month, or even a year. We are saved by the work of Christ alone. 

He secures a salvation that we couldn’t earn and then doesn’t tell us that we have to be perfect to keep it. And that is good news.  

I know how hard the last two years have been for many of us. There will be thousands of pages of ink spilt recounting them in the coming years. For now, let’s focus on the here and now. 

God loves you, cares for you, is for you, and holds you in his hand. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can take you from there.