• One Phone Call From Our Knees

    By: Kristen L. McNulty

    Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.

    One of my favourite songs from Mat Kearney, a track called Closer To Love, opens with these profound words:

    "She got the call today
    One out of the gray
    And when the smoke cleared
    It took her breath away
    She said she didn't believe
    It could happen to me
    I guess we're all one phone call
    From our knees."

    I guess we’re all one phone call from our knees. What a sentiment that sums up our human experience. Have you ever gotten a phone call that has brought you to your knees? I know I have. I think we all have.

    The call that tells you someone you love just unexpectedly passed away.

    The call that informs you lost the job, lost the house, lost everything.

    The call that broke a friendship, cut off a relationship, spelled the end of a marriage.

    The call that brought a diagnosis and changed life as you know it.

    None of us are immune from unexpected storms ripping through our lives. We can’t predict what’s around the corner or even what the next hour holds. We don’t know what is going to happen in our lives, in the lives of the people we love, in our homes, our cities, our countries, our communities. We can’t foresee the next crisis, the next pandemic, the next war. It’s no wonder why it can feel like worry is constantly  knocking at our door when we realize how truly unpredictable our lives are and how in the grand scheme of things, we can’t control our outcomes. We’re all one phone call from our knees. Yet in scripture we are called, in spite of all this, to abandon worry completely. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:34,

    So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:34


    It's No Surprise To Him


    How is this possible? How can we not worry about tomorrow when we don’t know what tomorrow might be? How can we not consider stressing about the outcome when we don’t know the outcome in advance? It’s possible when we realize that we don’t have to know what’s coming tomorrow because God our Father does. He created us, He created this world, and we can rest in knowing that nothing comes into our lives without His advance knowledge. Our life events are no surprise to Him. Just listen with me to the words of Psalm 139,

    You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139:15-16


    The Time To Doubt Isn't In The Dark


    There is no random chance to the events that unfold in our lives. We might not understand why He allows things to happen the way He does, but the time to doubt God isn’t in the dark. I've heard it said before don't doubt in the dark what you know to be true of God in the light. No instead, when the darkness comes and we can't see and the future looks scary and uncertain, we need to cling onto who God is and what we know to be true of Him. It isn't a time to abandon our faith, but instead cling to it like never before. As Corrie Ten Boom once wrote,

    When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer. Corrie Ten Boom


    So no matter what today holds for you or for me, we don’t need to give into fear or panic because we know Him and we can trust His promises to us. His promises that He will send us His peace when life is uncertain. His promises that no matter what we face, He will never leave us or forsake us. And His promises that all things in our lives may not look good, but they work together for our good. Romans 8:28

    And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28


    Him Knowing Our Future Is Enough


    As someone who recently was brought to my knees by the unexpected in my life, I promise this to be true. We are okay even when we get the phone call that brings us to our knees because it’s on our knees we find Him. And we can find rest and peace as we learn that Him knowing our future is enough.  Closing with a few more verses from Psalm 139, starting at verse 2.

    You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I'm far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night- but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. Psalm 139:2-12


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