Teaching Tuesday / Detoxing from Rat-Racing

Hello there! Well, most of us are off spring break and from what I hear some of you are about to pull your hair out and/or scream! Or both! Just keep reminding yourselves that this too will pass . . . though at the time it does seem endless.

The other day on the news one of the mayors they were interviewing used a very unique word that caught my attention. He said that you might be feeling "disorientated". Why that caught my attention is because I had just commented that I felt strange - discombobulated! You are probably more familiar with the mayors word, but they basically mean the same thing -to be confused or disconcerted. I was like - I didn't know what to put my hand to next because with everything shut down I am out of my routine, and so are most of you.

Not only are you not in your normal routine, but many of you are struggling to even get in a routine of any sort because our world as we know it is severely being shaken on multiple levels. But there's no need to fear, Jesus will carry us through this! He will never leave us or forsake us. We must put our hope and trust in Him because truly He is the only hope we have.

I thought it might help is I could give you a little perspective on why you may be feeling the way you are feeling. Many of you are suffering from DETOXING! That's right - detoxing from the rat-racing of our normal lifestyles! You're physically and emotionally suffering addiction withdrawals very similar to what a drug addict experiences when you take his drugs away, or an alcoholic suffers if you take their alcohol , or even a dieter suffers when you radically change their diet! Their FLESH screams that it wants its "normal" whatever that is that it is used to, whatever makes it happy, whatever will stop the cravings , and whatever will numb the pain! Recognizing what you are feeling is half the battle.

Most of us live such a fast paced life that if one more thing is added to our day it causes enormous stress. I don't know about you, but I refuse to waste this time and not gain something positive from it. The devil meant it for evil for sure, but my God can use ALL THINGS for good; He can even make beauty from ashes. Corvid 19 is NO match for Him! Neither is this social distancing, lockdown, or quarantine! Just like Mighty Man Elijah who is

defending his tent space against his invading

sisters as we camped inside this weekend, God will defend us! But let's do our part . . . let's stop our whining (Bonnie Walker included!) and let's ask Holy Spirit that while we have been FORCED off our rat-racing wheels to show us what we can learn from this to be better people, Christians, spouses, and parents! Let's ask God to show us how to better prioritize our lives. That He would help us put first things first!

Let's Pray:

Father God, we are in this forced state of stillness! And just being honest our flesh is screaming! We ask that You would give us a calm and quiet spirit. Please, show us how You want us to prioritize our lives so that we can be the parents that you want us to be. Help us also teach Your priorities to these little ones that You've placed in our care!

As we DETOX from the rat-racing, we ask that you replace our agenda's with YOURS! May we come out of this more focused, more determined than ever before that we will only value what You value, in Jesus' name! Amen!