Stress and the Net

Psalm 124:2-5 (NIV) “If the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.”

Stress… and the net

There’s a little too much stress going around the internet these days, stress I can not tolerate at this time. I really try to put a handle on it, but in the state of this disease that’s ravishing my cells, I need to control what stress I allow in and what stress I contribute to.

I’ve always been intrigued by weather so when Harvey was headed for Galveston Texas, I kept up to date on when it would hit, where exactly it would hit and the damage. I take devastation very seriously and deaths are nothing to joke about. 

After Harvey pummeled Houston, I began to watch a couple more storms snaking their way through the waters. The jokes from people not directly affected by the storms kind of took a sick and twisted turn. I think damaging a soul for the sake of a laugh is not of good character. You might find it funny and humorous that people are losing not only their lives but also many have lost their homes, their livelihoods. I don’t find it humorous, I’m sickened and saddened by the childish acts of supposed adults.

I didn’t retreat from the social media world when I should have because that is where the majority of my friends reside. I like to read and see what everyone is up to and I also like to be informed about the BC group and what is going on in the lives of other newly diagnosed patients trying this here alternative method. I aim to help but I realize that I’m not as well informed as I thought. Well for me, I am as informed as I’m going to get for now. Apparently, my first month of this crud I inundated my system with some great information.

I look to aid others in this quest but more times than not my words and assistance are shot down by those who know more than I know. I think also because I’m not needy, I’m informative and that threatens people sometimes. You see, every crud is different so what works for me might not work for them and vice versa, what works for them might not work for me. If I try to contradict what they’re saying I feel badgered so I pull myself away and into isolation I go. I sit back and listen but then the overload of information gets jumbled. I’m done trying to dissect all the information as it comes into view. I slowly back away.

Then another hurricane, Irma, took aim after devastating the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean then the beast set its sights on the U.S.! Trees and homes were chomped away like fried chicken and taters as the monstrous hurricane chewed its way through not only trees and homes but also lives. Irma was now setting her sights on Florida, another state with friends of mine. I can tell you, they were not the ones making jokes before or after.

After I made sure my friends were all okay, I chose to step back and take a breather. Away from the word cancer, away from people, away from drama, away from the stress drama causes, away from ignorance and hate and just isolate me and build strength in the Word!

While I can’t do much more than pray for the victims of the hurricane's devastation, my prayers will have to be a sufficient enough form of caring for those who’ve lost so much. While it does take the focus off of me, it hurts me to read and listen to the tragedy everyone has had forced upon them. While my heart bleeds for all involved, I feel selfish in caring for myself. I’m battling a deadly disease, these people are battling a tragedy also but at least they’re alive, for now so am I.

And to those who find humor in this devastation, I pray for them and their lost souls. Next thing you know they’ll be joking about cancer, oh no wait, that more than likely has touched their lives so no, they won’t joke about that. Our world is being consumed by its own form of cancer and while I like laughter as much as the next person, death and devastation are not the place and time to find humor.

Hebrews 13:5b, “For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’”(NLT)

Running On Fear

Pss. 40:3 “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”

Running on Fear

They said it was coming, they announced life or death. Catastrophic they claimed, live or DIE they heralded. It came, it went, flooding and downed trees and plenty of power outages. The over hype of hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes have been instilling fear for years as the forecasters use their state of the art technology to give you a so-called accurate prediction.

I personally like the names like Storm of the Century or Snowmageddon all to hype fear or to save lives? How many of you have a smoke alarm in your house? How often does it go off when you burn toast or boil water? Would you get rid of it because of its annoying over-hyped warning of impending doom or do you keep it for that one time it might just save your life?

People left their homes only for them to be burglarized. Stores were boarded up and yet were looted by the thugs who see storms as an open opportunity to pillage property. It’s not enough that these people might lose everything to a devastating storm but to be robbed when they’re told to run to safety? And we wonder why people stay behind to ride out the storm? People would rather die than lose everything they own to criminals.

For some reason this makes me think of centuries past when Moses told the people to wait for him to receive God’s word and the people acted like animals instead of having the patience to ‘wait on the Lord’. People live in a selfish little ‘it’s all about me’ world and nothing can override the necessity of sanity and control.

The world is all about taking advantage. Taking advantage of people and situations has become the norm to the point I wonder why I wake up in the morning to face this catastrophic downfall of the human species. I like to think that I’m waiting on the Lord but then I think, am I fooling myself? Everyone else is out there one-upping the next guy and I’m sitting here waiting on the Lord? 

It’s like the smoke alarm, is it worth it to just wait until it is really needed to see its worth? Or do you just get rid of it after the first pan of over-cooked bacon sets the thing blaring? To ME, the Lord is worth the wait. With all the glaring signs of impending doom, with all of the people out to get something for nothing, with all of the people complaining because the forecasters over hype of a devastating storm that wasn’t, I’m happy to be that one rare jewel in the bottom of the ocean, waiting on the Lord to finally take His stance.

Fear is making a resounding play on the hearts of man. Let out the thundering signs, cry out the uproarious impending doom, and ring out the forceful warnings. One day as you’re sitting in silence waiting you’ll be glad you patiently waited on the Lord instead of being filled with fear.

“Patience, that blending of moral courage with physical timidity.” 

~ Thomas Hardy ~