About five and a half months ago, in a giant leap of faith, my husband and I relocated from a major metropolitan area in Oregon to a very peaceful, small, isolated town in Wyoming. We’re building a new house. At the same time, we are fixing up the fixer-upper we found to live in while the new house under construction.

  • We left family and friends of 25 years duration
  • Came to a place where, five and a half months ago, we didn’t know anybody
  • My husband retired two months into this adventure.
  • I damaged my left foot and started physical therapy in January
  • It took a lawyer to move the moving company to deliver our household goods after five months of waiting.

Surprised

For some odd reason, I’m feeling stressed, anxious, worried, and withdrawn. It’s taken me by surprise. Giant leaps of faith ought to be full of fairy dust, moonbeams, and roses.

Don’t get me wrong. We are still certain we are following God’s leading.

  • We love this small town, full of friendly, outreaching people.
  • We’ve found a church, a community group, and friends.
  • We’re okay with being a two and a half hour drive from the nearest Costco.
  • The hiking trail goes right beside a swiftly flowing mountain creek, and starts a block from our house.
  • We see deer, antelope, and great horned owls frequently.
  • Right now, the red wing blackbirds sing their cheery springtime song as we walk by.
  • We’ve discovered a fun, Robin-sized, dusky blue bird, the American Dipper. It enjoys diving in and out of ice clogged streams, yet hangs around to play in the warmer water, too.

So what’s the matter with me?

Jesus often withdrew to a lonely place to be close to his Father. He focused on God, not the dust, persistent crowds, and constant clamor for his attention. I’m not hungry, dirty, and tired. Nobody is clamoring for my attention. What’s wrong?

The Bible has a prescription for what I’m experiencing in Philippians 4:4-8:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: “Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus.

“Finally, friends, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Focus

What’s wrong with me is that my eyes are focused on me. I’m looking down instead of up. I’m praying about what tile to choose for the bathroom in the new house instead of praying for the peace of God. I need to place my child-sized hand into the hand of my loving Father and trust him. I’m certain that God cares about the nitty-gritty details of our lives. But he cares much more about the state of our hearts and minds.

How about you? Could you use some peace that passes understanding, too? I’d love to hear from you. Please comment or send me an email.