Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14 NIV
The front door at the
teen girls’ emergency shelter where I volunteer was left ajar unintentionally.
A couple of women are talking outside on the sidewalk. That door, usually
double-dead bolted, latched and alarmed—open.
None of the girls want
to be at the state-controlled shelter, but all are abruptly removed from
abusive situations with nothing but the clothes they wear.
I sat in the living
room waiting to begin an activity with the current group of girls. Movement
caught my eye. I glimpsed one of the girls silently, swiftly darting out the
door. Panic. Alert the workers and other volunteers.
“Runner! It’s
Angelica!”
“Which way?” Frantic searching.
A twig snapped. All
eyes shifted to the narrow passage between the girls’ home and the neighboring
house. Angelica bolted for the backyard fence. Adrenaline surging, a pair of
women chased her down as she clung desperately to the fence ready to dive over
to freedom.
“Stop, Angelica, stop!”
one woman cried. “Don’t! We can’t help you if you run away.”
Soothing pleas urged
her down. A life secured—this time.
I don’t look at these
abused girls with condemnation. I, too, am a runaway. I’ve run from classes, jobs, and
relationships when I lost heart. The only difference is I make my decisions and
actions appear reasonable to others after I’ve completed my rationalizing and
deceptive self-talk.
I’m not alone. Even when I feel like I am.
Jonah ran the opposite
direction when God asked him to proclaim a message of repentance to the wicked
city of Nineveh.
To be a modern-day Braveheart, doesn’t necessarily mean
doing the outward things we often consider courageous. Being brave most often
means being willing to admit mistakes and weaknesses to our accepting heavenly
Father. Honesty. Subdue fearful pride and cry out loud to Jesus, “I can’t, but
You can.” Rest.
Father, I want to learn to choose to wait on You instead of running
away from uncomfortable feelings.
Karen Sims
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