I’m in a bad mood.
Just when I thought 2020 couldn’t get worse—the entire west coast became an inferno. My flammable neighborhood is within spitting distance of some of these wildfires. And the smoke is so horrendous that I’ve developed a smoker’s cough.
I’m not alone in this.
Some of my friends had to evacuate their homes. Others fear for the safety of their loved ones who are firefighters. School kids stuck at home, due to the pandemic, are now stuck indoors due to the poor air quality.
People who grumbled about wearing masks in public, now wear masks outdoors so they can breathe. Even restaurant owners can’t get a break. Customers have to dine outside, but who wants to eat in the smokey section?
So yeah, I’m in a bad mood.
When COVID-19 entered the world and rocked my personal axis, I considered myself a patient soul, but … my patience is treading thin ice.
Living in uncertain times (indefinitely) is difficult even when we try to be patient, grateful, eternal minded.
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I’m also tired.
Tired of encouraging others to keep “a stiff upper lip” while I mask my sulky expression.
Tired of people glaring at me over their masks and standing six feet away like I’m a leper.
I could shake this bad mood if I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Or, know for sure there’s an end to this tunnel. And I don’t mean heaven.
Even so, I asked God to use the events of 2020 to teach and change me for the better. I didn’t expect Him to reveal the dross inside of me. There’s nothing pretty about it. And yet, if I want to be more Christlike, I need the Refiner’s fire to purge the worthless rubbish.
“Take away the dross from the silver, And there comes out a vessel for the smith” (Proverbs 25:4).
I’d rather God purify my heart with a cooler method, but dross removal takes heat.
“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10).
My mentor, Loretta, describes how she endured the furnace of affliction when four of her family members died in a twelve-month span.
“I hated the night. Dark thoughts and death consumed my mind. When morning came, I had no energy or desire to get out of bed. I’d stick my leg out of the covers and say, ‘Father, I can’t. Help me! That’s when I learned that when I can’t, He can. God’s strength is perfected in weakness. God enabled me to get out of bed and get on with my day.”
Loretta Chalfant
When I consider what Loretta endured (and how people are suffering now) I’m challenged once again to follow her advice,
“I get to choose, like Job, how to respond to my circumstances. I can either bend and let God work in my life and change me. Or I can resist and lose out on His lessons.”
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Time for me to surrender what I can’t control and bend so God’s refining fire can work . . . even in this bad-mood day.
You can read how Loretta learned these faith lessons in my book Lunch with Loretta: Discover the Power of a Mentoring Friendship.
Photo: Karen Foster
Even In This 