The Pit in Our Stomachs Tells us something!

What gives you that pit in your stomach?

That feeling of knowing that SOMETHING is wrong and the odds are that you’ve caused it!

There is either something that you should NOT have done or . . . . there was something you were supposed to do, and you completely missed it!

Around  5 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon, luckily I picked up my work phone and found a message from a PAC Team member. (PAC Team is the governing body of West)

“Hey, Andrea, are you going to send out the zoom link for tonight’s meeting, or is it in person?”

“Tonight’s meeting????? What meeting?!?!  I didn’t know we had a meeting!!!”

As I pondered the above question, another text popped on my screen.

“Hey! Did you send out the financial report for tonight’s meeting yet? I know you said you would send some things out, but I don’t think I’ve received anything yet! I wanna make sure I don’t miss it.”

Then, I remembered an email from the first thing that morning.

“Hey, my shift at the hospital ends around 7, so I can jump on the meeting as soon as I get home! I can’t wait to be a part of this team.”

I remember thinking, “This is strange. I wonder why she thinks there is a meeting.”

Well, she and several others remembered it because I set it. Yes. I set the meeting.

The week before was a complete cluster. The night of our original meeting had me in an “emergency” meeting with a non-profit so our PAC had to be postponed.

Because I was so distracted by the drama of meeting #1, I did not remember scheduling meeting #2.

That, coupled with COVID exhaustion, led to a cluster of calendaring.

Thus, the HUGE pit in my stomach.

In the meantime, I am realizing that the small group I am a part of is ALSO supposed to meet in one hour. The Lenten Series needed to be laid out so that songs/music could be chosen, etc.

The pit in my stomach had become a complete boulder.

There was no way out of the mess other than to admit that it was indeed a mess to everyone involved. There’s some humility for you!

What causes pits in your stomach?

What are things you do that you shouldn’t do?

Or . . .

What are things you NEED to do, you KNOW you need to do them, yet leave them undone.

We all have misses! That’s one of the beautiful things about our journeys. None of us are perfect! Yet, we continue our journey despite the ways we “miss the mark.”

There is one that goes before us that has no “misses.” Despite the twists and turns life brought him, he kept on the path that led to light and life. He shows us the way.

His name is Jesus. Of Nazareth. Who ultimately becomes known as Jesus the Christ.

Following his path and seeing how he navigated the twists and turns helps us find our way.

Regardless of how many pits we have in our stomachs.

Today, take a few moments to identify the pits you have felt in the past. Or perhaps the ones you are feeling right now. Hold on to those thoughts and throughout the course of the next seven days we will discuss what and how we deal with them.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7,

“But I need something more! If I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

24 I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question