Outlasting Chaos

If I was expecting to find a nugget of inspiration it couldn’t have been in a more unlikely place. There, stapled on the rustic wood fence rail, was a white poster board proclaiming truth in bold, blaring letters for all to see. Yes, it was just the encouragement this world-weary heart needed to hear. 

It was a bit of a dreary Monday morning and after dropping my kids off at school, I made my way through the back roads towards home. This certain morning seemed filled, once again, with chaos. As if all the headlines have not already fully overwhelmed a body. Fires. Hurricanes. More storms to come. Political unrest. Election nearing. Coronavirus. It’s all too much and it is blaring louder and louder every day. I had chosen, months ago, to chose to turn the volume down— to be particular in the news broadcasts I allowed in my home, in my reading and media, and ultimately, in my mind— yet still, the negative news still hammered down hard. With these thoughts swirling in my head, I looked up and saw the poster board of truth tacked to the fence ahead of me: “THIS TOO SHALL PASS”, it proclaimed, loud and clear in black permanent marker.

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Something about the simple reminder reached into my day and wiped away the negative tint that had been threatening to overtake my thought process. Yes, these days seem saturated with negative… but the fact of the matter is that THIS TOO SHALL PASS.

There has never been a single event in history that has never failed to pass. It’s impossible! Seasons change, days change, situations change, people change, weather changes, disease changes… it all changes (Ecclesiastics 3:1). It all shall pass away (Matthew 24:35). The one who is eternal and who will never change… never pass away, is God (Isaiah 44:6, Rev. 1:8).

Something about that silly handwritten sign on the corner fence made me smile and shifted my day into a better perspective. What truth was in those words! 

Perhaps the encouragement you and I need today is not posted on a physical poster board on a fence, abundantly clear for all to see, but I guarantee you that there is plenty of encouragement here for the finding (in fact it may not be further than the person next to you). Yes, one of the primary ways God reminds us of His faithfulness is through other believers. There is something amazing that happens when we take a moment to “testify”. Testify meaning “give evidence, bear witness, give a testimony”.

For us Christians this “testifying” means recalling about something particular God has done for us or retelling of how we became a Christian.

When we put words to what God has done, we just naturally receive a boost in our Spirit, just like when we hear someone testify about what the Lord has done in their lives.

This “testifying” can look like this: a chat over coffee with a friend and exchange of encouraging words, a brother in Christ sharing a scripture passage, a sister in Christ posting her answer to prayer on Facebook. It can look like: Church services, Bible studies and seriously any gathering of believers (yes, even on Zoom!) We are to gather together and encourage each other in the Word and also encourage each other about the faithfulness of God— how He came through for us then. He did it then, He will do it now. One other AWESOME thing about this “testifying” is that it is a sharing of testimonies— it not only boosts our faith and other believer’s faith, but it reaches out, offers light, and draws those who have yet to believe.

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So, in a similar spirit of encouragement as my last post (all about the importance of legacy https://melanietalevski.com/2020/10/02/sprinkles-of-tradition/ ) let’s put words to our testimony. Let’s talk about it at our dinner tables with our family and children. Let’s talk about it on social media and in church services. Let’s talk about it any chance we get. By doing so we are reminding ourselves how God’s faithfulness outlasts anything it ever comes up against. Present problems included. 

THIS TOO SHALL PASS/ THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD WILL LAST. 

It always outlasts, outshines any chaos.

Until next time,