Times of Tension

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
…a time to weep, and a time to laugh…a time to mourn, and a time to dance…a time to keep, and a time to cast away…Ecclesiastes 3

Ahhh—tension. Don’t we love it?

Those many awkward moments…the joke you didn’t get…the help you don’t know how to ask for…tension.

Opening that letter or email marked ‘urgent’…the important phone call you’ve been waiting for…the apology you know you deserve, but may never come…tension.

The uncertainty of affording tomorrow and the regret of how yesterday was spent…tension.

No wonder Solomon says to laugh, cry, dance or mourn; it releases the tension. However we choose to deal with the inevitable pressures we’ll face this week, let’s realise that times of tension aren’t always a bad thing. They can actually be the catalyst for many great changes. We could even make history by having a bad day.

Remember Rosa Parks?

This tired and stressed out woman simply refused to give up her seat on a bus after a long days labour. She strummed hard on the string of racial tension that many avoided. Now everyone heard the sound. Her actions set the stage for a man who would walk the tight rope of all kinds of strife to bring forth changes that are still taking shape today.

These same people at different times would have merely been footnotes. Because it was the times of tension that made them what they were. God has great reasons for our existence at this point in the story. We can always try to hide behind the ‘too many of my own problems’ excuse, but even Dr. King had family issues and St. Paul made tents to make ends meet.
Before credit crunches were invented, people survived countless times of tension and lived to tell the tale: cold wars, world wars, great depressions, riots, famines, you name it. Whether our recent days have been marked by grief, anger, confusion, fear or all of the above; we can be grateful there is a God who can relate, revive and restore any situation under the sun. Or have we discovered something new that’s never been dealt with before?

Let’s make the most of the rubber bands we’ve been given. We can use the tension to either snap at others or sling shot forward like never before!

Intensely Yours,
Brandon and Pamela
www.freedomhouse.org.uk