Editor’s note: As Loma Linda University Health continues a massive construction project to build the new Medical Center and Children’s Hospital towers, the chaplains invite members of the campus to pray and fast each Tuesday, asking for God’s guidance and wisdom as we continue to grow. Below is a devotional from a series in News of the Week based on the biblical book of Nehemiah, in which Nehemiah faced a massive building project of his own.
***
“You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea. –Nehemiah 9:9
What one word could encapsulate the angst of our society and our world? Would it be fear? All of our sources of news and information shout out in fear — fear of failing economies, fear of terrorism, fear of natural disasters and global climate change, fear in politics and on and on.
What word would sum up your personal life? For many of us, it would once again be the word “fear” — fear of an unstable job situation, fear of falling income and rising bills, fear for hurting relationships, fear of the results of medical testing, fear of the uncertainties of making it through the day. Fear.
The dictionary definition of fear is “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.” Our fears are based on a feeling that, whatever it is that we are facing, far outstrips our capabilities to meet the challenge and resolve the outcome. Bottom line — we cannot do it … we are vulnerable.
We feel that way with good reason. The tornado-like twists and turns of life swirl us around faster than we can do anything about them. So what is the answer? Do we give up? Do we zone out and medicate ourselves with work or pleasure or chemicals? Do we become cynical and resigned to our inevitable fate? That’s exactly what many around us do, but it doesn’t resolve anything.
Nehemiah suggests another way. When the people of Jerusalem looked at the dangers they faced and how weak they were, when they heard the reading of God’s Law and saw how inadequate they were, they wept and feared. Yet, in the midst of their tears, Nehemiah told them to remember all the wonderful, powerful, loving things God had done for them in the past. He told them to remember that God is the same God with the same power and the same love who hears our petitions and acts!
What are you facing right now as you are reading this? What do you fear? Maybe what you face seems far above your ability to handle or change, and you feel like crumbling. Don’t! Stop. Take a moment right now to remember God and how He has acted in history, in the lives of people you know, in your life. Dry your tears! Do not fear! God loves you! God is acting on your behalf!
Terry Swenson, DMin
Campus chaplain
Loma Linda University