sometimes ya just gotta hurl...

"... casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." 

                                                                                     - 1 Peter 5:7

The following is an excerpt from the update I just sent out to our prayer supporters:

The last few weeks have felt a bit like the calm before the storm as Brooke and I prepare to have a child and then move to the other side of the planet.  Not that things haven't been happening, they have.  However, there is definitely a sense in our home that everything is about to change.  Everyone wants to know if we're excited about this and the honest answer is, kinda.  Yes, we have a joy and excitement about bringing a new life into this world.  There is also a real anxiety and sober realization of the weighty task being given to us by God as he calls us to parent this child.  Are we excited to be heading back to Auckland?  After two years of raising support, living in perpetual transition, and constantly wondering if this was really going to happen; it's obviously exciting to be moving towards actually getting back to the city we've been called to minister to.  However, there is also sorrow at leaving family and friends behind as well as an awareness that in a real sense we are heading thousands of miles away from everything we know and are familiar with.  There is also hesitation as we are about to take on a task that is not merely difficult but actually impossible in our own strength.  Both in our return to New Zealand and the start of our life as parents there are real fears and big questions. 

Why do I share this with you?  Despite what is sometimes assumed in Christian circles, there is nothing godly or spiritual in denying or minimizing these hard things.  Trusting in Christ and finding our security, peace, and joy in him alone does not mean ignoring the difficult realities of living in a fallen world or wrestling with doubt, fear, and anxiety.  On the contrary, as Christians we are called to deal honestly with our anxiety, fears, and doubts and to cast them all on God.  We can't do this casting if we pretend the things that we need to cast on God don't exist or if we act like they're no big deal. The verb in the 1 Peter passage translated "casting" literally means to throw or hurl something.  How do we hurl things?  Not by pretending they don't exist.  We hurl something by getting a good grasp on it, evaluating its weight, and then chucking it as hard as we can.  Our God promises us that in his love and care for us he can handle anything we hurl at him.  And so we want to always be honest about our struggles so we can get a firm grasp on them and hurl them onto God who sustains us.