It’s winter in Buffalo; the snow has arrived and is sticking! We stayed home for the holidays and got a chance to go ice skating, experience bumper cars on ice, and enjoy some sledding to kick off the winter season! On the other hand, some people are still limiting their outings and social interactions. As much as we are trying to capitalize on winter fun, we can’t help but miss the days when hopping on a plane was so “easy.” It’s a feeling of hopelessness at times when thinking about if or when things will ever return to how they were.
Trapped. The last time I started to feel trapped was interestingly when I was IN Ecuador. We had visited in March of 2020 with no idea that a worldwide pandemic situation was underway. On March 16 we got first class tickets (the only available) and fled the country on the last flight before the airport closed. It was an internal sense of impending “doom”; if we didn’t get out then we would have been trapped, in Ecuador for the unending quarantine! Now we are starting to feel the reverse: trapped HERE, at home in the U.S. We long for the day when we can even contemplate returning to Ecuador, where my husband is from, and visiting all our relatives and friends there. When will our kids be able to see and hug their 86-year-old grandpa again, in addition to visiting with the aunts, uncles, and cousins down there? Only God knows. We will surrender this to Him and continually ask for patience, wisdom, and His timing for the future.
The most memorable and uncomfortable feeling of being trapped isn’t physical, but rather spiritual. I first experienced it when a cousin of mine in his thirties suddenly and very unexpectedly passed away several years ago of a brain aneurism. Going to his funeral was surreal, as he was only a few years older than me. I began to grapple with my own faith and where I was going. It felt like he had just fallen off a cliff and disappeared, but to where? I recall being at my cousin’s viewing with deep internal questions triggering my mind: was there really a heaven? I had grown up with the idea of eternity, but it seemed like such a leap of impossibility at that time. Things got really personal. The depth of my own faith was being put to the test. I began to feel TRAPPED myself. Where do we all end up?
God was so gracious to allow me to contemplate these foundational facets of my beliefs afresh. My faith needed to grow, to be watered once again. We really ARE trapped and do not see things completely clear here on earth (1 Corinthians 13:9-12). The “unknown” awaits us all. I realized that Jesus was the only One whose words held both comfort AND truth, the perfect combination to rest my life on. By faith I know we CAN inherit GOD’S ETERNAL HOME for us if we believe Jesus died for us, ask Him for forgiveness and give Him our lives. It’s the gospel, which means the “good news.”
Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
If you are feeling trapped and/or unsure of your salvation, take the opportunity to seek God and grow your faith in Him. As a believer we are to spread this good news, but how can we if we are not FULLY assured of it ourselves? As Charles Spurgeon once said, “The first thing for our soul’s health, the first thing for His glory, and the first thing for our own usefulness, is to keep ourselves in the perpetual communion with the Lord Jesus, and to see that the vital spirituality of our religion is maintained over and above everything else in the world.” Ask God to deepen your faith like never before. In so doing your excitement for heaven will grow as well as a healthy burden and compassion for the lost, those who don’t know Christ as their Savior.
God bless you all, dear ones! I would love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment letting me know you were here.
Shannon, We are truly blessed to see the beauty of winter and of EACH season! May we not take those things for granted, including the intricacies of the snowflake. Thank you for leaving a comment and for reading. God be with you and your precious family.
The shape of those snowflakes is so striking. I’m glad to hear the story of how you were able to get the last flight out of Ecuador right before the quarantine. I hope you can return soon to see your family. Thank you for sharing how you’ve grown since experiencing your cousin’s sudden passing. That must have been a very difficult time for you all.
Brittany, Thank you as always for taking the time to leave a comment! In the winter it is easy to feel isolated and trapped in our homes, although we are so blessed to have them. Praise God our spiritual state is FREEDOM in Christ! I agree that it is crazy yet unifying that the whole world went through this pandemic together. God bless you dear sister!
I know all too well as I’m sure many of us do the feeling of being trapped. Whether physically, mentally or both. Its in the discomfort that we change fortunately and unfortunately! How amazing it was/is that so many of us could relate at the same time. Thank you for your insight💕and good to remember deepening our faith is not easy but always worth it.