I can’t seem to get away from stress this summer. Even when I have managed to get a few days or few hours of respite, the pain in my spirit refuses to be dissolved. How can I rest when my carefully guarded personal hopes are being dashed on the rocks of out-of-control circumstances and when, nationally and internationally, the storm seems intent on drowning my precious faith and freedoms?

You cannot know what personal circumstances drag down my steps but already know how many Canadian politicians and judges are supporting same-sex marriage and condoning disregard of Christian beliefs. They seem intent in destroying laws we Christians thought were our rights.

When these thoughts threatened to overwhelm my sanity, however, I have the privilege of turning to my flower garden during this brief period of warm days and nights. Gardening is therapeutic. It is also great exercise. But much more than that, it is absolutely amazing to watch a fragile plant grow and bloom before my very eyes. It helps me forget for a few brief moments the weight of the world.

And so I find, among my plants, my calm in the midst of the storm. There is a wonder of watching a carefully tended plant beat the odds of harsh Maritime winters and unpredictable summers to bear flowers and fruit.

Seeing a plant that has been under stress (from weather, insects or transplanting) send out its first tiny, hopeful shoots is very restorative to my spirit. It’s a victory for the creative God who cares for even the smallest details. It helps hope live in me again. Perhaps the plant will take firm root and become strong enough to survive the approaching winter. It’s is the greatest stress reliever I know.

But I must continually return my attention to the storm swirling around me. I am getting so tired of the constant bombardment this summer as many Christian activists seem to be continually screaming, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"

Do we think that if we work harder for our "rights," yell louder about God’s "rules" and organize more letter-writing campaigns that we can persuade the other side that they are mistaken? Wrong! That will only entrench their positions.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t stand up for the truth. Of course we should. The Bible is not ambiguous in its condemnation of homosexual sexuality. We must fight against those who would discredit God and His rightful leadership. It’s sad and pathetic that Prime Minister Chrétien should dare say he shouldn’t mix "religion and politics" because they cannot be separated.

But God’s timetable is not ours. And He has an agenda we cannot possibly fully understand. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if the homosexuals win the right to same-sex marriage or even if we are put in jail for disagreeing with them. Ultimately, God will defend His cause. God will judge. God is in control.

And let’s watch the name-calling and anger from our side. We are screaming so loud even our side is being alienated.

God’s Kingdom is not in this world. Our priority is not to make a Christian political system but "to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind and our neighbour as ourselves."

We need to stop yelling at the sky and get down on our knees and pray.

We need to tend our own garden (whatever plot of struggling plants God has given you-whether your family, church, fellow workers or students). We can’t always prevent the locusts from coming. We can only pick off as many as we can. God, however, can turn back the plague. And He will, when He has accomplished His purpose.

Yes, it is definitely time for all of us to go out and smell the roses-to look for signs of God’s promised growth in the midst of this hurricane blowing through our Canadian landscape.

God knows what He is doing.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and DO NOT lean on your own understanding?and He will make your paths straight."