Befriend It

I dreamed my husband and I were in a kayak floating down a stream when a shark surfaced. He kept bumping our boat, consistently bumping, bumping. We didn’t know how to deal with its annoying, threatening presence. Then I heard the words “Befriend it.”

My friend relayed this story to me soon after her husband was diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s. She readily identified the persistent shark as her husband’s debilitating disease. She knew the Lord was showing her—through the dream—how to move forward. Instead of continuing to fight a losing battle, they both began to embrace the illness. Their changed mindset catapulted them into a place of peace.

So how does befriending something as pernicious as Alzheimer’s lead to peace?

Once they stopped fighting the diagnosis, they began to recognize an unprecedented flow of God’s mercies. Where before they took the little pleasures of life for granted, they began to cherish them, from enjoying the beauty of snow-capped mountains outside their window to watching Jeopardy and playing Uno together. They learned to laugh, even through tears. And both deepened their reliance on God.

Far from denying reality, they know what lies ahead. They experience frustration, sadness and fear. But their lives resonate with more joy than sorrow, with more victory than defeat. And they have confidence that a day of resplendent everlasting light awaits.

We’re not always called to fight the giants in our lives. Sometimes, like my friends, we must embrace them. But when we surrender our fear and sorrow to the Lord, we discover embedded peace and joy emanating from his presence.

So in whatever you are facing today, or if darkness looms on the horizon, I pray you will discover, as my dear friends have, you are not alone. You don’t have to be afraid of the sharks. You serve a God who promises to be with you. Always. No matter what.

Dear Father, please give us the courage to face the sharks in our lives, and entrust everything to you.

Throughout the Day: Make a list of the ways God shows you his mercies in simple pleasures. Let your list reinforce your awareness that he is with you now and always will be.

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