Living with tension
March is an interesting month.
As I type these words, the sun is shining and the birds are chirping away, worshipping their Creator. I stop to listen. It is beautiful. Our days are waking up with a yawn stretching into what were long winter evenings. Spring flowers surface for air, showing off their beauty. It seems Spring has sprung until the cold winds howl ‘Not quite yet’.
In many ways, March teaches us to live with tension. The promise and signs of Spring are there and keep us going, even when the cold makes it feel remote.
Tensions feel like a long hall or corridor, a passage taking us from one room to another. It’s that uncomfortable ‘in-between’, not one thing or another; the promise of something and yet that something feeling distant.
Our natural response is to run from tension. But is it possible to navigate tensions well and find joy in what appears unpleasant and awkward?
Remember that saying, ‘Fake it until you make’? In other words, don’t pay attention to how you are feeling about something, put your best foot forward, and you will get through that long, tricky, and uncomfortable passage.
Is that really the best way?
The foundation of ‘Fake it until you make it’ isn’t an honest one. We embrace inauthenticity until we ‘make it’, if we ever do. It puts the onus on us. We ‘white-knuckle’ our way through situations relying on our own willpower, strength, and ability. We forget that we are children of a loving Father who wants to be part of our lives. He never leaves or forsakes us and provides everything we need.
Paul didn’t feel the need to ‘fake it until he made it.’ He got real with the Corinthian Christians because he knew how to be real with God.
In his wrestle with his thorn in the flesh, God’s words to him were: My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
God doesn’t ask us to reinvent ourselves as His daughters, but rather to come as we are. He embraces our honesty, covers us with His grace and then provides the strength and power we need to shine for Him. What more could we want?
Next time you are tempted to ‘fake it until you make it’,
- Pause in the presence of your loving Father
- Be real with Him
- Surrender your weakness
- Receive His strength
This process doesn’t have to be onerous. We can experience God’s peace in and through it. Isaiah tells us, You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock. (Isaiah 26:3-4)
The more we focus on God who is peace, the more peace we will have.
The more peace we have, the easier it will be to live from a place of peace.
The more we live from a place of peace, the more we will be in alignment with God’s thoughts and ways. Then, to our amazement, we will be making it one step at a time without faking it.
Next time, you are tempted to lose your peace when life throws you tensions, remember that God can be trusted. He never changes. His unfailing love surrounds you, fills the earth, and acts as a shield of protection.
For the word of the LORD holds true, and we can trust everything he does. … the unfailing love of the LORD fills the earth. … But the LORD’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken. … The LORD looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race. From his throne he observes all who live on the earth. He made their hearts, so he understands everything they do. (Psalm 33:4, 5, 11, 13-15)
Soon, we will be celebrating Easter. Jesus’ death and resurrection gives every tension in life meaning, purpose, and hope. As you walk through the Easter weekend, may our Father impress on you the power of the cross, the gift of salvation, and the joy of doing life with Him who is always by your side.
Now may the God of peace - who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood - may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)