Whack-a-mole

Faith is like a game of whack-a-mole.  You know, the arcade game where the funny little fake animals pop up at irregular intervals from a variety of holes and your job is to firmly bop them on the head with a foam hammer.  It takes both single-mindedness and multitasking abilities to succeed at this game.  Stop for a moment to glance over at the skee-ball machine, and you will miss several cheeky little rodents.  Stare too long at one hole that has been the location of many mole appearances, and you will be caught by surprise by the speed at which the moles rear their heads from every other hole.

The single-mindedness required by faith is great!  Let down your guard for a moment, and the ugly pest of worry will make you feel like that frantic child wielding a foam hammer against a horde of mocking moles.  As the very wise guest speaker at our church last Sunday said, muscular faith requires a moment-by-moment choice to trust God rather than to be overwhelmed by our circumstances.  (Listen to the amazing sermon here: http://sitedata.countrysidebible.org/avmedia/se/gs140713a.mp3 ) Stop making that choice for a moment, and you will begin to lose the battle.  Constant vigilance is absolutely necessary.  No wonder the Bible compares the Christian life to the life of a soldier.

However, I've been struck this week more by the multitasking that faith requires.  You see, the sheer number of holes from which my worry can pop up really impresses me!  (I do acknowledge that I am an above-average worrier...)  There's of course Arthur's physical condition, although that mole is simpler to catch - I find it's easier to trust God when it is abundantly clear that only He can intervene right now.  Then there's having true thoughts about God...easy this week as I taught about His character and attributes during VBS.  From there, though, the diversity of my worry-moles leave my head spinning.  Logistics, finances, family, there are so many facets to our situation!  And of course, it is the moles out of the blue having nothing to do with Arthur that most catch me off guard.

So, I'll be gripping that hammer more strongly and watching out of the corners of my eyes for the feisty fellows.