Realizations From a Red Candle
We had a fierce storm last night that shook our roof. When I say it was raining hard, I couldn’t see more than 20 feet out the window. So the next day I asked several people how they and their houses were after the storm. During one conversation, I learned that one woman lights a red candle during storms because her mother taught her that it kept evil spirits away and consequently would protect her house. (She previously had her roof ripped off in another storm). Later as I was thinking about this, I was still surprised that this woman believed that a red candle would keep her house safe.
But what about the little safeguards I set up in my own mind. I was reminded of the Scripture where Jesus says, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” My actions fly in the face of the truth that Jesus speaks in Matthew 6. I worry and fret, thinking that it is okay and helpful or write it off as a natural reaction when it is actually destructive to my faith and a reliance on self. In fact, my worry has as much power as that red candle. So as we navigate life here on the other side of the ocean, I see God calling me to a deeper trust, a more profound faith and a releasing of my own control. To do this, though, will take some honesty on my part because often my ways of not trusting God are not as obvious as lighting a candle.
Nate
