When You Need It

Aren't crocuses hopeful? Sometimes, when that last late blizzard strikes, it's hard to believe that the world will ever bloom again.

I wish I had more faith, the kind that would enable me not only to take chances but also to be calm and refuse to worry so much. The last seven weeks have been really stressful, and even though I managed the anxiety better than I would have in the past, I wish I had done better.

About a month ago, I was finishing the first draft of my novel. And I had a chapter that took place mostly in an emergency room. Well, I've been blessed so that I haven't had to spend much time in emergency rooms, but that left me with a dilemma. How was I going to make my chapter realistic?

As I mused over that problem, I went down to the basement to do my treadmill workout and switched on the TV. I was bored with my usual programs, so I started flipping through the directory. DiscoveryHealth was showing a show set in an emergency room—not a made-up situation, like ER, but a real, honest-to-God functioning hospital. In that one hour, I observed enough concrete details to make my chapter seem real. And as I walked upstairs at the end of the hour, I sensed God assuring me, "Life will give you what you need, when you need it."

That promise has been hard to cling to these last few weeks, but once again, it has proved true. Maybe next time we go through a dry spell when work is scarce, believing will be just a little bit easier.