Relief
The blues are what I’ve turned to, what has given me inspiration and relief in all the trials of my life.
Eric Clapton
What is relief?
Whenever I hear the word relief, I think of the “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh, what a relief it is commercial” from my childhood.
According the Webster’s dictionary relief is:
– a pleasant and relaxed feeling that someone has when something unpleasant stops or does not happen.
When did you last experience relief?
I had this feeling last Friday night when Ryan from the Geek Squad at our local Best Buy helped to locate some “lost” files on our external backup hard drive.
I was feeling stressed out, frustrated, and awful, because I thought I lost several important files when our Macbook had to be wiped clean. I made a backup before the computer was cleaned, so I felt certain I’d be able to restore the important files back to the computer after its cleaning. When I went to restore the files, I couldn’t locate the most important ones on the computer.
I spent several hours working on the problem. I even woke up real early Friday morning to work on it before I started my day. Friday night after work, I tried a few more things without success. In a last-ditch effort, I took the machine along with the external backup hard drive to an expert (Ryan) who had me on the right path within a few minutes.
The feeling of relief that swept over me when we located the files was unbelievable.
I literally spent all night Thursday and all day Friday worrying about these files. And within a few seconds my worries were erased and replaced with relief.
Worry is a funny thing. It takes over like the plague. It almost paralyzes us. And yet, Jesus reminds us not to worry in Matthew 6:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25, 33-34
The ultimate relief from our worries lies in trusting and resting in God’s care. When things get crazy – when you lose the files on your computer – don’t forget to turn to God. After all, He cares for us.