I love the anticipation of counting down to something. The excitement of something new on the horizon brings a sense of hope, wonderment and even joy.
I remember my parents wanting to surprise me, my brothers and sister with our last family holiday. We had outgrown the days of the 4WD and camper trailer exploring the Australian Outback. This was our first holiday involving airplanes and passports: an overseas holiday.
Although a surprise trip to Fiji would have been great, they wanted us to also be able to enjoy the anticipation in the lead up to going. It was seven years ago, and yet I still often recall to mind the idea of enjoying the anticipation.
Bracing for change
So what happens when my anticipation is for a change, one I really don't like the idea of? Panic. Devastation. There's no enjoyment in waiting for the day your closest friend will leave town. Watching the weeks fly by and realising the inevitable is just days away is hardly exciting.
Instead, I am filled with a sense of dread, the incomprehensible notion that they will not be around, an inability to see how I will get past the sadness and keep living adult life.
Then Jesus steps in and reminds me to trust Him.
'Be still and know that I am God.' (Psalm 46, verse 10)
Trusting God is not something I find very easy. At all. As words of despair poured out of my mouth, asking God how I was to live without my friend in my day to day life, I realised I was really saying I didn't trust in God's plan, nor in His sufficiency for me.
How do I become the kind of person who knows and lives in the reality of being the child of a God who is trustworthy and faithful? Someone suggested I meditate on God. Initially, hearing the word 'meditation' made me think of the practise of other religions—i.e. not for me.
However, what if the idea of meditation brought about the idea of a sense of focus and reminder of the truths of who God is, and where I fit into His big picture?
Stop and be still
Through taking this perspective, I realised meditation is something I already do. To remind myself of who God is, to stop, be still and know He is God. To proclaim His characteristics to myself and really spend time considering what this means for my situation.
I was challenged to develop the habit of coming before the Lord daily to remind myself of who He is and to commit whatever is going on in my life to Him. It sounds like self-talk and, in a way, it is. Purposefully reminding myself of who I am in Jesus, proclaiming who God is, and how His plan and purpose for my life are in His perfect control.
The Psalms are a great place to start for short reminders and encouragements of the truths of our great, mighty, powerful, trustworthy, sovereign and faithful God.