I am currently living out the consequences of a very bad choice I made over two years ago. And I am not very patient! I want everything fixed.....
.....and I want it now!!!!
It seems as though everything will be going along well....then pow! Something blows up in my face....you know....imagine the soot-all-over-your-face-hair-all-jacked-up-cartoon-blow-up-in-my face-look! Yup....that's me!
And it all comes from me! Yes....ME! I am the cause of the explosion!
Can anyone relate to what I am saying? Does anyone else take responsibility for the chaos in their lives other than me?
Well....if I've learned anything in the past two years, it is to accept responsibility for my actions.
I am 100% to blame. I have totally been trying to take over God's job of healing, restoration, reconciliation, redemption....you name it. It is so hard to just "be still..and know."
God's word tells us in Psalm 46:10
So why is that so hard for us?
It is our sin nature to want to control. It goes all the way back to Genesis. Sarai was barren. She could not live with the idea that her husband Abraham would not have an heir to his name. So she convinced him to father a child with her maidservant, Hagar. Hagar gave birth to a son, Ishmael. Then, in her old age, God blessed Sarai and Abraham with a son, and they called him Jacob. God changed Sarai's name to Sarah. Her jealousy of Ishmael became so strong that she demanded Abraham send him and Hagar away, and so he did. (One might be tempted to ask at this point where were Abraham's peaches?) They went out into the wilderness alone....and this was the start of the Muslim faith.
A short and sweet version...but you get the idea.
Can you imagine what our world would be like had Sarah relinquished control of her family to God? Had she NOT decided to meddle in the legacy of her family, perhaps we would not have many of the worldwide problems we are seeing now. Because of her sin....her uncontrollable desire to meddle in God's work, we now have over a billion people born into a faith that is wreaking havoc and destruction on our world today. That's a pretty big consequence of her sin if you ask me!
I'm not sure I have as much pull as Sarah on future generations....but I think I can take a lesson from her experience. I need to "be still" and wait for Him. As we all should. Because His Will is perfect.
Obedience is what he wants from us.
The rest...I'm confident He can handle!
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Romans 12:12 ESV
