Tension Anyone?

Yesterday, about 5:00 PM, I could feel myself feeling tense and very frustrated.  It had been that kind of day.

• A frustrating (and silly) situation at church…(Grrrrr…).
• More and more wedding conversation (necessary but I find that I hit overload at times).
• A meeting that I showed up for and then learned it had been canceled.

Yet, I also know that most of that tension and frustration was due to what is taking place in my life on other fronts.  Yesterday, was the same and yet it was different.  It was Christine’s last Sunday here before moving to Tennessee.  She was in Chicago for orientation last week and will go to South Carolina this week.   Following that, she will live in Tennessee.

Early yesterday morning, I was thinking about that.  Of course I have always been her Dad but I have been her preacher as well.  Yesterday morning, there was something strange about knowing that all of this was about to change after today.  Even while she was away at school these past four years, there was always the sense that college was temporary.  This feels permanent.

The male in me wants to say (probably along with some other males reading this), "Well now, you want them to grow up."  Of course.  I know that.  But–knowing that does not take away the emotion of the day.

Children grow up, friends move away, churches and communities change, but "the Lord is near" (Phil. 4:5).  In fact, instead of living in daily anxiety, Paul encourages us to live in pray and petition, presenting our requests to God (4:6).  Then he says that the "peace of God" will guard our hearts and minds in Christ.

I want to learn to be dependant upon the Lord, without denying difficult feelings.  Difficult feelings are real but their presence does not make my hope in Jesus any less real. 

Today, I feel encouraged.  Not because everything is great or because I expect this to be a day with no frustration.  I feel encouraged because "the Lord is near" and in that is a special promise.