Katie Gaultney - Getting God’s perspective on 2020

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, November 18th. Good morning to you! This is The World and Everything in It, supported by listeners like you. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Katie Gaultney now on how a trip to Disney World in January helped prepare her for the rest of 2020.

AUDIO: [DISNEY WORLD CROWD]

KATIE GAULTNEY, COMMENTATOR: Back in January, before “COVID-19” was a part of our collective vocabulary, my husband and I took our family to Disney World. We spent our first day at the Magic Kingdom, running from ride to ride with a fully loaded double stroller and two small kids on foot. By midday, we were whipped, and we thought we’d take a break in one of the park’s theaters. It was showing a 3D movie starring Donald Duck. 

MICKEY’S PHILHARMAGIC: Oh boy, oh boy! [MUSIC]

It’s funny to think back now on the park attendants handing us 3D glasses as we walked in, recycled from the guests before us. I didn’t even think about whether the glasses were sanitized. I was too focused on trying to get my 2-year-old daughter, Daisy, to wear them. She was fussy and didn’t like having something on her face. As my older kids gasped and giggled at the items apparently jumping out at them from the screen, Daisy whined and thrashed, confused by watching a 3D movie without the 3D glasses that would have made sense of it all. 

“Daisy, trust me! Just wear the glasses. Then you’ll see how cool this is! You’ll see what the rest of us see!” We all tried to convince her, to no avail. She may have rested her legs for a bit, but she was grumpier than ever leaving the theater.

I think back on that moment from time to time. And I wonder if my Father in Heaven sometimes pleads with me the way I did with Daisy: “Trust me. You can’t see what I see right now, but follow my lead, and eventually this will make sense.”

Of course, there are no special glasses to give us the perspective to make sense of this tumultuous year. No lens to bring the image of 2020 into focus—a year that has left business owners hurting, taken loved ones, sickened tens of millions, and led many to unhealthy coping habits. 

NBC: America’s new normal/ We are dealing with a crisis that we have never seen in our lifetime/ Do not send your children to schools/ No one should be on the streets/ The healthcare system braces for the worst…

Or is there? 

Doesn’t God’s word act as a light in the darkness? I find myself clinging to these truths amid so many unknowns: 

In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart; I have overcome the world. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Oh, and here’s a good one from the mouth of that fussy babe herself. 

DAISY: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. [Laughter]

I’m Katie Gaultney.

(Photo/iStock)

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