This Feels Too Big

Over this last week, before we all go to bed, I have been reading to the kids. Specifically, reading to Sean and he had requested that we read this book from a series that he loves titled The Last Kids On Earth by Max Brallier. It is a really fun series about boy named Jack and his friends who have been left behind due to a zombie apocalypse and they are left having to defend themselves against the zombies and monsters that have taken over their home town.

They go through a series of adventures and quite frankly, the humor makes my ten year old giggle and if I am being honest, it makes me gag a bit (zombie goo...just gross), but he loves it and he loves it when I read to him. It takes me back to when my kids were babies and we read aloud together every night. It was one of my favorite things. I am grateful for this time where we are limited on where we can go and we get more time thinking up ways to connect to each other.

In this particular book, there was a part where Jack is training with a monster who has befriended the kids and wants to help them defeat and control the zombies once and for all. The monster, named Bartle, is like an old sensei who is wise and compassionate and desires for this students to understand the gravity of why they are going through what they are going through, and what is truly at stake. Here is a quote that really resonated with me while I read out loud to my son, who was snuggled up next to me, oblivious to my thoughts:

I sigh and think back to the time before the Monster Apocalypse, only nine months ago: Nothing really mattered then. Everything matters now. This training is important. And that's the thing-behind every swing of the Slicer, behind every attempt to focus-there's me knowing that, in a way, this power is the KEY to saving THE WORLD-and that the world depends on this; the world depends on Me.

That's a lot for one kid! I mean, how is ONE person supposed to protect everything and everyone?

It's unfair! It's LUDICROUS! The enormity of the task is too enormous!

Quote from The Last Kids On Earth and the Midnight Blade by Max Brallier; Copyright 2019

Y'all, we are in a really strange time right now. The task at hand seems incredible enormous. Ludicrous even. We are all simply one person who is having to deal with not only the stress of trying to prevent a health crisis from furthering its damage to our families and to our neighbors, but we are also watching an economic crisis happen before our very eyes.

There are currently families who were just laid off from their jobs with no idea where their next paycheck is going to come from. And of course, they can apply to the government for help, but that often comes with red tape, especially with how many people this crisis has currently affected.

I know all of this feels so huge. How can we, those of us who may be feeling the pinch ourselves, help others and be encouragers, providers, it just seems too much for one person.

That is because it is. And you know what? Let me encourage you that you are not alone.

You see, in this part of the story, Jack forgot that he wasn't actually alone. He still had his friends, remember? He had his monster turned friend and teacher. He may be the one called to a specific task, but he is not alone.

Together, they will see victory.

Together, WE will see victory and in turn, instill hope into a hurting world.

I take comfort that God reminds us that we are not alone, that He sees and He cares and He is not surprised by any of this, even though we certainly are!

Isaiah 41:10 states:

Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I know that everything just feels so incredibly overwhelming at the moment. Trust me, there are moments when I find myself with anxiety quietly trying to overtake my mind and my heart. My natural bent is to freak out and then try to take control of everything, even if I know I cannot control it.

But God is real. God is not done. You may have been given a task that feels too enormous. Maybe you are working double shifts at the grocery store in order to make sure people are able to purchase what they need.

Maybe you are a health care worker, and you are exhausted beyond belief and wondering if there is an end in sight.

Maybe you are a business owner who has experienced incredible blessing in your business, but are now facing the very real reality that you may not be able to pay your employees, though you know they need the income.

Maybe you are a ministry leader, your church doors are physically closed, but you know that needs still need to be met and you are having to rethink on how to meet them.

Please do not despair and fall into the trap that it all falls on you. The enemy would love nothing more than for you to become overwhelmed by what is happening and to stop what you know you need to do in order to serve and bring hope and encouragement to a hurting world. You may have been called, but it isn't all about you and it is not all on you. Your capacity is not the variable here.

You are not alone. We are doing this together. Praying for every single one of you. God is not done.

Praying for you,

Tiffany