Hot southern air pressed on us as we floated without hurry down the James River, carried by a gentle current. It neither battered nor pulled at us, carrying us and convincing us it was okay to lay our heads back, close our eyes, and get lost in the laughter. We could loosen our grip and be sure we would stay on course. But not every current feels so safe and peaceful.
In today’s current, we know not the destination where we’ll be spit out, but we feel it dragging us all under and we don’t like it. Some currents feel friendly and hopeful, buoying those in it to destinations on rivers of hope. But some currents threaten, dragging those in it to a dangerous eddy where conflict churns up sharp, swirling debris. Debris like presidential campaigns, new administrations, protest marches, and picking sides. Such is the current we currently find ourselves in, pressed down by something more sinister than summer air or change.
Every woman alive today needs to know how to hold on and how to navigate these current times. Women in countries other than my own read my posts. I’m not just writing to Americans, but in the last several days I’ve watched reports of women around the globe reacting to events in my citizenship country. In this current, words spoken and actions taken in one place by one person are heard and seen by the world. Do we turn a deaf ear to cruel and crude words? Do we add our voice to conflict and chaos? There’s no laying back of our heads to drift. Like it or not, our current is neither gentle or kind.
What can a woman today hold on to as she rides this current?
When we’re in a strong current, anything carried with us will be carried with us. The very force itself is full of debris and hard to see. Have you watched the images of the torrents of water from heavy rains in southern California? Cars bob along like bath toys. Trees race by like battering rams. Roads crumble into mud. Helpless people reach out for rescue. The stronger the current, the more important it is we find something that doesn’t move and we hold on for dear life.
Are you watching the current state of the world around us? Relationships are broken and filled with conflict. Wars go on for years, creating an unending flow of victims. Governments like my own are filled with distrust and accusation. Even the very nature of a male and female is mixed up and uncertain. The gentle lash out in anger and the just act out in vengeance. It’s no wonder women are feeling the stress and radiating conflict from their hearts and minds. If you weren’t holding on to something stable before, now would be a good time to grab on.
If you knew there was someone to depend who would not let you down, would you hold on to them? I would and I have. In the first half of the Bible called the Old Testament, God tells us something we desperately need to know in the face of current events: “For I the Lord do not change,” (Malachi 3:8). Isn’t that amazing? A leader who is completely reliable and able to be trusted, not capable of changing who He is and what He’s like? A Heavenly Father who wants me to depend on His dependability.
And in the second half of the Bible called the New Testament, we read about God’s Son, Jesus, who takes after His Father: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). It would take someone divine, God Himself, to be able to make the claim that He does not change. No one else in this current can make such a claim.
Have you been watching events in your life or in our world and feeling like you need something to hold on to? Have you been tempted to grab passing arguments or movements to ground you? Are you feeling the weight of the conflict and the anger pressing in on us? Do you need personal hope that a good destination is ahead? In this current we need to hold on. We need to know there’s someone to grab hold of who will not move, change, or let us go. God will not change, and He’s worth holding on to.
A current prayer to hold on:
God, I’m not sure what holding on to You looks like, but it sounds like You can handle it if I reach out to You. The world around me is just crazy, and I need to know I have someone I can depend on. I’d like to hold on to You. Will You help me see where You are in my life and in the world I live in?
5 Current Things You Can Do
- Pray – Ask God to guide your thoughts and actions
- Reflect – Consider what you know to be true and good
- Filter – Turn off social media when it creates a “dangerous eddy”
- Display – Demonstrate what respect and dignity look like
- Speak – Use your voice to speak words of kindness and truth
Read how Loving Lessons Begin at Home
