Everything is Lava
I never thought that I would be courageous enough to get up on a weekday morning and go grab food for my family at the grocery store. I didn’t think I had it in me, honestly. I had to brave the wilds of our local Fred Meyer and as I walked around store, we could all feel the tension in the air. That’s when I recognized it: everything is lava.
At home, we often play the game “the floor is lava.” That means…we can’t touch it. Its incredibly stressful to be paying for a floor in the living room that my daughter says I can’t walk on.
You feel it too don’t you. Everything is lava. We can’t touch anything. We can’t even be around each other. For some, our jobs are lava right now. It feels like crisis is the new normal, and our bodies, minds, and hearts were not fashioned to live like that for long.
Here is my encouragement: pause. Rest. We feel more stress in more areas in our lives than we have ever felt. This season of our lives will end, but the uncertainties and uncharted territory we are experiencing demand more emotional energy from us than we even realize.
Everything is lava right now, but rest. Think about Jesus’ words to any who would hear him and take him seriously:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28–30)
Jesus knows that we are living in days of high anxiety and trouble. He knows that simple trips to the grocery store are no longer simple (and sometimes, fruitless…literally). He knows we do not have the capacity to hold up underneath all of the stress that we live under. Jesus knows that everything is lava for us.
Slow down. No, really. Slow down. Slow down before you break down. Take Jesus at his word and come to him to find rest. The kind of rest that will help us not only endure this period of our histories, but will give us a profound sense that he is present with us as we are immersed in crisis.
Jesus is inviting us to rest in him. Its an invitation. Its a welcome. Its also what we long for.