There is a lot on my heart and mind these days. I suspect the same is true for most of you. 

These are not easy times. The noise level is nearly unbearable. 

There are so many voices raised in anger, frustration, fear, condescension, judgement. How do we know which ones to listen to? How can we even begin to juggle all the things we’re being told to care about? How can we keep ourselves and our families safe when it feels like every day brings a new threat? 

We’re afraid. We’re overwhelmed. We’re sad and isolated. 

That’s true no matter our politics, our religious views, our racial or ethnic identity, our disability status, our geographic location, our socioeconomic status. We’re all feeling it. We are divided, without recognizing that so many of our arguments are different responses to the same fears.

It feels like the world is unraveling around us. And maybe it is. Those of us who are Christians believe that will be the inevitable end of earth’s history – the collapse of a world that has veered off course, separated from its Creator and Source of life. 

I don’t have all the answers. I, too, am tired. I am sad. I am angry. I seek gratitude and joy in my many blessings, but it’s impossible to fully shut out the noise. I struggle to understand my responsibility in the face of others’ pain. I feel the weight of a day-to-day lift that can get so heavy. 

But there are some things I believe deep in my core, because I have experienced them. They are the things I hold to. They are the things that carry me through. 

I walk with God, and I know Him to be good and present in all the moments of my life. I believe Him to be infinitely capable and working for my ultimate good, and for the good of those I love. I know that I cannot control much of anything that happens in this world, but I can control how I respond to the people around me. I believe God knows every person’s story, loves every person completely, and calls me to love each one as He does. I believe that the unraveling around us is a reminder that we were made for something more. And I believe that God has gone to the absolute end to save every precious life on this planet who will have Him. 

Maybe that sounds like a fantasy, too good to be true, belied by the chaos around us and centuries of harm done in God’s name. I get that. All I can say is, this is all I have found in the world to be worth trusting, worth hoping for, worth living for. I have tried Him and found Him faithful. 

I am humbled by the mess we’re in. I have questions and doubts. I can’t see the future. But I know the One who can. Day by day, it is enough.

He is enough.