Don't Run Away

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,
If he himself could his quietus make
With a bare bodkin?
- Hamlet, William Shakespeare

 

A dream of mine is to buy an RV. I'd save up some money and go on a road trip across America; no plan, no itinerary, nothing to hold me to some artificial standard. It would be freeing, a real vacation. Instead of all the pressure of ordinary life, I would just do whatever I felt like on any given day. Go see the Grand Canyon! Sure; just pull up the GPS and drive there. Want to take a jaunt up to New York? Simple. On the way, why don't I stop by St. Louis? Nothing's stopping me. 

Writing this now, I'm struck by how terrifying it would be to put this plan into motion. Sure, it would be fun for a while. But it would come with a whole host of other problems. Who would help me if I needed it? Would I be able to afford a place to stay if the RV broke down? What if I ran out of money? 

But, most of all, it would be running away. It's appealing to me (sometimes) because it sounds freeing to leave behind all your problems and take a break from it all, but that isn't something that should be pursued. Leaving behind your problems may sound nice, but in the long run, all it'll do is take away your ability to handle them. 

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the titular character soliloquizes about suicide. He lists life's sorrows, and all the trials that he currently is facing, and wonders aloud whether or not it would be worth it to end all of those by death. It's a somber speech, but it hits home for many of us. Perhaps our means of ending all those problems is different than Hamlet's—hopefully so—but the heart behind it is the same. For me, it's dreaming of a road trip across America that I'll never take because I know gratifying that urge would do far more harm than good. 

Running away from life's problems will give you nothing but a backlog of problems to deal with later. Because that's the thing: the problems don't go away. Simply forgetting about them won't fix their root causes. Instead of running away from them, it would be far better to look at and address them. Even taking one small step can give you progress, and with God's help, the problems you're facing won't overcome you. Instead, God will overcome them, and He'll give you the peace you need to face the next day.  

 

John 16:33 - I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.