Disruption Season

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”– Romans 8:28

Friends know (and hopefully you will, too) that I am a Looney Tunes fan all the way and Bugs Bunny is my favorite character.  A definite smart-alecky animal whose mouth sometimes gets him in more trouble than he can handle, most of the time he came out on top.  In the 1951 cartoon “Rabbit Fire” with his two main adversaries- Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, there is a scene in which rabbit and duck wear “struggle” costumes to confuse Fudd – a rather easy feat– so that one of them would be bagged and tagged.

“Duck season!”

“Wabbit season!”

“Duck season!”

“Wabbit season!”…you get the picture.

Amid that chaotic, confusing season– a disruption—poor Elmer makes the same decision that leaves my buddy Bugs victorious and Daffy with several unscheduled facelifts.

I don’t have a not-so-crafty hunter or a daffy fowl with a short fuse preying and plotting after me, but I can definitely say that I am smack dab in the middle of a disruption season.  I can also definitely say I’m not the only one, either.  Tell me if any of these signs ring true:

Heart ache from family disagreements and fallout?  Disruption.

Stress from increasing workload and decreasing support?  Disruption.

Old habits gaining new strength?  Disruption.

New temptations clawing for head and heart space?  Disruption.

Health wear, tear, and scare?  Disruption.

Much like Bugs and Daffy, the disruptions send me back and forth like a tennis ball over the net of life:  every day brings a new volley that threatens to break me—us—down.  We become so distracted with the details in these trying moments that we lose sight of the proper perspective, which is God’s perspective.  We freely sacrifice more time and energy on how we feel about a situation, about what we should/could/would have done instead of asking God to help us through it.  And I say this not because of what I’ve heard or seen, but because I’ve lived through the sacrifice of time very recently.  I asked repeatedly “Is this a test?  A trial?  Spiritual attack?  Consequence of something I’ve done?”, but spent more time asking that of myself instead of asking God once and waiting for His answer.  When the Lord brought me through this latest phase of disruption, it was mind boggling just how much time was wasted, when it rightfully should have been spent with the Lord in prayer, fasting, and meditation on His Word.  Because of the flesh that is weak, I easily forgot what Paul wrote to the Christian believers: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”– Romans 8:28

In a time when believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior carried the threat of persecution, prosecution, and even death, Paul’s readers needed assurance that their present situation was not their final destination, that their faith was not in vain.  They needed to know without question that regardless of the what, why, and how of their experience, God would work it out for their good.  And He would do so in His way, on His time.  This is perhaps the most difficult part of this disruption season: re-calibrating my methods, my schedule, my will to God’s.  See, I want the situations done with a snap of the fingers.  I want the struggle against the heartache, frustration, and anger to disappear in the blink of an eye.  I want the new temptations to “Poof!  Begone and stay gone!”.  I want life to go back to the old normal of safe, reliable, and reasonable peace: no more disruptions, please.  They are bad for my high blood pressure.

Conversely, God wants me to trust Him to sort it all out, period.  Or as the millennials used to say (or do they still say this?), “Periodt.”  He wants me to trust that His timeline and process are infinitely better.  He wants me –us—to trust that He is with us every minute of our disruption season, guiding us from the traps and snares we have no clue are nearby.  He shines the light from heaven on the darkest corners of our situation, exposing the enemy’s lies for what they are and leading us past them. Or, if you’re hardheaded like me, He pulls a defensive move on a decision that stops the play dead in its tracks and leaves us scratching our heads, thoroughly perplexed. 

I firmly believe that the Lord wants us to share in and live through His perspective of our lives to readily say, “Okay, Lord.  It’s that crazy time again.  You lead and I’ll follow” instead of “Okay, Lord, what now?”  Doing so builds our confidence in who He is and who we are to Him.  It readily brings to our memory all the times He stepped in, made a way, and saved the day by confusing the enemy like Bugs did Daffy and Elmer.  It encourages us to take a deep breath, square our shoulders, pray without ceasing, and live the calling God placed on our lives so that we thrive during and after the disruption.

Trust me when I say that if He did it before He will do it again, especially for those who love Him.

Fam, (if you’re still reading this, we’re family now), there’s no avoiding a disruption season.  The closer we get to becoming the men and women of God we were formed to be, the more these “What in the world…?” moments will appear.  I don’t really want to say we should get used to ‘em, but essentially…we should get used to ‘em.  However, let’s also get used to God working them out for our good, to make us better people and stronger believers with an amazing story to tell of how we got over.  Let’s get used to those twins called Grace and Mercy following us every step during these seasons.

Let’s get used to God being God, solving and resolving with perfect precision.  Periodt.

Prayer: Lord God Almighty, thank You for Your inspiration and message of encouragement to us when life becomes disruptive.  I pray that You do what You do best for the readers of this word—meet and exceed their needs beyond what they could ask or think.  I ask this in the name of Your son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  Amen.