Ann Farabee

Ann Farabee

In a recent column, I referenced feeling as if traversing through difficult circumstances was like trying to keep my balance on a 3.9 inch wide balance beam.

I now have an update.

Lord, could I please have my balance beam back?

The news came. Not just one — but two friends — lost their lives to COVID this week. They were too young to go. It was too soon. They had families that needed them. It was hard for me to understand.

COVID continues to impact all of us daily. The struggles seem to be front and center and multiplying. In a way, it feels as though our balance beam was removed and replaced — with a tightrope.

As a young girl, I remember watching a tightrope circus act from the upper level of the coliseum. I gasped in horror as I saw the acrobat on the tightrope fall. She fell and fell and fell. The fall seemed to last forever.

Then came her landing. She fell — right into a safety net. It was so far down from where I was sitting that I had not even realized that a safety net was there. She jumped up, smiled, and waved to the cheering crowd.

I caught my breath. Whew! That was close. Or was it?

No, apparently, it was not close at all. It was part of the show.

That memory has now become a message.

A tightrope is a tensioned wire between two points that you try to keep your balance on by positioning yourself over your base of support. Some use a tool like a pole to help them balance. Others choose to balance by stretching their arms out.

Me? You? Balancing on a tightrope? Let’s see:

There will be times we will waver back and forth, feeling that we will fall. It can be scary, for there will be emotional strain — tension.

How do we keep from falling?

We position ourselves over our base of support while using these tools:

• Balancing pole — that would be God’s Word.

• Stretching our arms out — that would be prayer.

But, we are human. God knows our frame. He made us. He knows our limitations. No matter how hard we try to walk safely on our tightrope, there are times we lose our balance. We forget our balancing pole. We forget to stretch out our arms.

Those are the times we may fall.

We fall, and fall, and fall.

Then we land.

Straight into the safety net.

Our savior’s outstretched arms.

Psalm 145:14 says, “The Lord upholds all who fall.”

All means all.

By Ann Farabee

Teaching Sunday school to 6-8 year-olds was so much fun! I mean, how do you have greater moments in life than to have a child interrupt your well-planned lesson to ask you if there is Kool-Aid in heaven? The ensuing discussion led them to determine that God would give us pizza on trees if we wanted it.

We would begin class with prayer requests, and sometimes as I prayed aloud I would say, “God speak to us.”

But one day, I guess a little guy had heard that one time too many. He blurted out, “I don’t hear God!”

A girl in the class was not pleased with his interruption, so she yelled at him, “Why don’t you listen?”

After further — and calmer — discussion, it was determined that some of the ways God speaks to us are through others, through nature, through reading our Bibles, and in our hearts.

The heart concept was a tough one for them, since they were concerned about what they called the ‘Valentine-shaped’ object in their bodies being spoken to by God. We all eventually agreed that God speaking to our hearts meant that he spoke to us in our minds and in our spirits.

They definitely left class that day determined to start listening for God’s voice.

Isaiah 48:16 tells us that God’s message has been told clearly and plainly — not in secret.

Isaiah 48:17 tells us that God teaches us and leads us in the way we should go.

The first part of Isaiah 48:18 says, “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments!” It ended with an exclamation mark, too, so obviously it was spoken with emotion. My interpretation of it would be something like, “Why don’t you listen?”

How does listening to God’s commands help?

How would listening to God’s commands change a situation?

The last part of Isaiah 48:18 tells us:

We would have peace as a river.

We would have righteousness as the waves of the sea.

Peace as a river can mean an abundant full flowing river that spills over onto the banks with blessings of every kind.

Righteousness as the waves of the sea can mean unfailing, seemingly boundless strong but gentle movement, with goodness, fairness, and honor that cannot be measured.

I call those beautiful promises from God!

All we have to do is listen!

By the way, there may be pizza on trees in heaven. You never know…

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at  annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

By Ann Farabee

She did not crawl. She did not hold on to furniture as she tried to learn to walk.

She went straight to running — at eight months and two days old.

Then she climbed. On everything.

Sliding down banisters must have been easier for her than taking the stairs.

If there was a fence or a wall that could be walked on, it was.

Her dad and I often followed behind her in our “hunched over parent” position, prepared to catch her as she fell while calling out to her, “Be easy.”

As she got a little older, she channeled some of that energy into gymnastics, resulting in a trip to the state competition, where we continued whispering, “Be easy.”

Be easy.

Telling a 12-year-old on a 3.9-inch balance beam doing back handsprings to “be easy” seemed a bit futile, but we stuck with it.

Of all things to come to my mind 25 years later as I was thinking about the our world today, right? But I somehow think we all can relate to feeling like we are on a 3.9-inch wide balance beam at times.

Many are in emotional distress.

Many are struggling financially.

Many are anxious or sad.

Many have personal struggles.

Many are sick or grieving.

Times are not easy — but we need to be.

We need to be easy on others — and easy on ourselves.

May we do as Colossians 3:12-14 exhorts us: Clothe ourselves with kindness, compassion, humility, gentleness, and patience. May we bear with each other. May we forgive one another. May we put on love.

May we treat others as we want to be treated. May we be a little softer and a little more tender. May our spirits be stirred up, creating the perfect recipe for being easy.

May everyday life and may everyday people that we may have taken for granted in the past become more precious to us than ever before.

May the times we spend staying apart actually end up bringing us together.

May we learn to be easy. Matthew 11:30 says, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” That is a promise from God. He will give us rest. We need to make sure we get it. May we not focus on the external problems that surround us, but may we focus on the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.

We need to give ourselves a break — because we are not in charge. God is.

We can balance it all! God is with us.

It can be hard being a history maker — but that is what we are.

Future generations will study 2020-2021 in their history lessons.

May they learn how we made it through hard times.

May they learn about our resilience.

May they learn how we showed tender expressions of love to one another.

May they learn how we held on to each other — and to Jesus.

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com .

By Ann Farabee

It was a battle that had gone on way too long.

It had intensified.

Immediate victory was needed.

There was no way to win the battle on my own.

So, I tried one of my favorite strategies — I opened my Bible to a random page and immediately saw this verse from 2 Corinthians 2:11 — “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

I had definitely not seen that verse in a while. I suppose it was not random — for Satan had been trying to get an advantage, but I was not ignorant of his devices!

I stood still for a minute. I listened.

The Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit: Ann, you have a higher power.

I felt the words seep into my soul, and I actually looked around to see who said them.

But I knew — the Lord was reminding me.

Not only did I have a higher power — I had the most high power.

Psalm 7:17 says, “I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness and will sing praise to the Lord most high.”

Psalm 91:9 says, “he who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

Psalm 83:18 says, “he alone is the most high over all the earth.”

I heard it clearly.

I knew where my help would come from.

I called on the name of Jesus.

Did my battle end immediately? No.

But — my higher power — the most high power — was fighting it for me.

All I had to do was hold my peace.

Jesus was born in a lowly manger, died on a lonely cross, rose again, and split the skies wide open with his glory, as his majesty was illuminated and he ascended into heaven from that lofty mountain, and he did that for you and me.

The most high power — that’s our higher power — all the way from earth to glory.

Later, I read a different version of 2 Corinthians 2:11 that made me smile: “Satan will not outsmart us. For we know his evil schemes.”

We win! For we have the most high.

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at  annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

By Ann Farabee