Are you feeling a little overwhelmed again this summer? We have the West Coast in severe drought conditions with wildfires burning out of control. Here in Wisconsin, we have both areas that are extremely dry and areas that are flooding. Tornados and high winds have affected Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, and other areas of the Upper Great Lakes. The weather conditions are enough to make US feel like we’re in a whirlwind.

Then this week, we’ve read about and seen the pictures of the devastation in Haiti from the earthquake. If you’re like me, you’re also closely following what’s going on in Afghanistan. The families of people who supported democracy are trying to get out, but there are limited flights leaving. Many Christians have escaped, but many are refusing to leave their homes. It’s a scary time!

And what are we to think of the delta variant of COVID? What about vaccinating? What about masking? It’s difficult to know WHAT to think. There is so much information out there and a lot of it is confusing or even contradictory. But many of us have people that we love who are working in the medical field, and we worry about them. We wonder if it’s safe to get groceries… go to church… send our children to school.  

Where do we turn when our world seems upside down?

The obvious pastoral answer is that we turn to God and we turn to the Scriptures. I debated whether to draw parallels to Job or to the Babylonian captivity, but ultimately decided that perhaps the Exodus might be a good section of scripture to explore with you. “Exodus?”, you say, “isn’t that about God’s power and how God saved the people of Israel?” Well… yes… but… Think about this for a moment. While the Israelites were saved from some of the plagues, can you imagine the impact that they had on their lives? The Nile turning to blood. That would have affected them all: The fish dying, the smell, the struggle to get drinking water. The dead frogs piled up everywhere. Ugh! While it’s true that many of the Israelites lived in Goshen, many were also servants in homes in the land that was affected.  

Then they have a situation that must have seemed like Kabul. Get out! Now! Run! And here comes the army behind. Instead of a fence at an airport, the Israelites get backed up against the Red Sea. Their world was upside down. And then… God! God made a way for them, destroying their enemy. It’s when we’re at our very limits that God can show up most powerfully. The Exodus was indeed God’s triumph, but if you were one of the Israelites in the middle of it, would you have seen it?  

I wonder if this is perhaps where we are sitting right now. I hear a sense of helplessness and hopelessness from many people. But we are not helpless and we are not hopeless. Our hope is always to be found in Christ. In this world, we will have trouble, but we have the peace that Christ has given us to sustain us. We are not helpless either. There is always something that we can do to help others. First and foremost, we can PRAY! Not many of us have the power to do anything about Afghanistan, but we can hold those who are there in our prayers. We can pray the Taliban will indeed honor their promises to respect women’s rights. We can work politically to have more refugees come here. We can support rescue workers through our gifts. We can send care packages to overworked hospital staff or fire-fighters. We can volunteer to do some short-term mission. We are NOT helpless.  

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Kelly Jahn is pastor of the Juda Zion and Oakley Union United Methodist Churches.