Frustration

Just when you think people are listening to God for the first time in years, their lives take a turn, and chaos causes them to focus on the immediate instead of the eternal. I have seen this happen in my own life, and now I am watching it happen in my family. The message has to remain solid. God is bigger than circumstances. If the last five weeks have taught me anything, it is that God remains firm. Our lives can feel out of control, but God is in control; control is in God. I have wanted to scream, throw a fit, yell at someone for five weeks now, but I haven't. I have turned my grief over to God and tried my best to abide in Him. What exactly does that mean? I have tried to stay connected to God through His word, through music that reminds me who He is, through prayer. Although my prayer life is different than it has been, it is more constant. If I didn't say brief, "keep me close" prayers throughout the day, I would be a mess.
All of that is personal, private, but the one thing that is not private is my church attendance. I have learned that I must have the lessons, music, sermons, relationships that can only be had in church. I have heard people all my life say that you can be a Christian without going to church. That may be true, but I don't believe we are made to go it alone. God wants us to connect with other Christians for encouragement, enlightenment, and accountability. I thank God daily for my church friends. The people in my Sunday School class make that hour one of the best hours of the week. I look forward to seeing them and sharing in their lives. Every one of them has been placed in that group for a reason. They all bring something different to the discussion, but that is what we need. We don't need to surround ourselves with people in our exact circumstances, with people who agree with us on every issue. We need people to bring a different perspective to the lesson so that we can get the full message intended for us.
I am better prepared to face each week because of the friendship and support I feel from the people in our class. I hope they feel the same.