Some things are impossible to forget. Or get over. Or change.
I often ask myself, why did this have to happen? Why can't the much less complicated version just disappear? You sit back and wonder when it'll all be over, when it will all change. Or will it?
What do we do when we decide to change something, but somehow our minds (or hearts) refuse to obey? We try talking ourselves into thinking a certain way. But all we get is...air. An empty response and sorry shakes of the head as we sit in silent discouragement. We spend Friday nights awake in lonely confusion; the sun sets, the stars come out, and time slips by. Before you know it, the clock reads early morning and fiery light flushes out the shadows of darkness on the horizon. But still your mind goes over everything while you mentally hit yourself for being so, so... so complicated. Why can't you just get over it? Why can't you just change?
God knows. He holds the future in His hands. And He alone will do what is right with it.
"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 path straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6
I don't do that very well. Sometimes I think I don't do it at all, when I realized that I have the hardest time trusting Him with the small things, the things that seem more important to me than they would to the Savior and Creator of the world.
Psalms has a lot to say about this, but here are some verses:
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." -Psalms 34: 18
"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." -Psalms 37: 5-6
"One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong and that you, O Lord, are loving." Psalms 62: 11-12a
These verses tell us that God is a personal God; He is close to us and loves us. He can, therefore, relate to us and cares about us and our problems. Also, they tell us that He has strength and power. He therefore not only cares about our problems, but He has the power to do something about it. He may not fix them the way we want, but He does what is right.
The best part is that He will never leave us. No matter how much we mess up.
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present for the future, now any powers, neither height for depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
It's so easy to get caught up in the little things, thinking there is no way of escaping what appears to be hopelessness. But God has promised a way out, if we trust it all to Him.
I could give you a hundred dozen more verses, but you might as well read them for yourself. Trust me, you won't regret it. I only regret not reading my Bible more.
"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." Philippians 4: 6-7
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1 comment:
wow. you just read my mail. even though you wrote this at the beginning of the year. :)
so relate to that...that question of, "what the heck is my deal? why can't i just take action?" i loved the reminder from the psalms that God picks up the brokenhearted. that in the midst of our struggles and failures, he's scooping up our little-selves in his giant-grace giving hands and saying, "it's okay, i got you."
i think we complicate things sometimes, when all we need to do is simply and rawly (is that a word?) TRUST God. to take him at his word, which of course we have to be reading it. ha. let's get back to the simple things, hey?
thanks for sharing. :)
--shelly
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