Lately it seems that everyone I know is going through something. Not little things…big, giant, crushing things. It feels like every day a new heartbreak is revealed to me. This week I found myself wishing I could be blissfully unaware of all the issues that surround me. Unfortunately that is not the place or situation God has given me.
I believe I’m called to comfort with the comfort I’ve been given. But the reality is I am a single mom with 5 children and a couple part-time jobs. What do I do to be the friend and encourager I want to be when I can barely be mommy and encourager for my children?
Don’t we all struggle with this dilemma to some degree?
There are some pretty big things going on around us all. Some people who could use a listening ear, a hug and a word of encouragement. I believe God calls us to be there for each other. But when your own life is overwhelming, what does that ministry look like? Today God gave me some perspective.
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD, from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 131
How beautiful is that? God completely spoke to me. He’d been preparing me for these verses for days. I was finally ready to say, “God I don’t know it all or even most of it. I’m choosing to trust you”
I don’t need to keep trying to figure things out that are frankly none of my business. What I do need to do is pretty clear. Trust God. Calm down. Be quiet. Rest in my Savior’s care. Hope in Him.
The reality is that there is no situation that I can “fix” on my own. There is no person that I can truly comfort the way they need to be comforted. There is no longing that I can fulfill. No heart that I can change or heal. When I get all twisted in knots over someone’s situation, or even my own, it’s usually because I’m trying to take things into my own hands and figure out a way to make it better.
When will I learn to turn to the Lord? When will I understand that all I’m supposed to do is calm and quiet my anxious thoughts and let God use me the way He knows is best.
So often I want to jump in and fix things…including almost everything in my own life. Sometimes there are fixable things… like my attitude, my schedule, my focus…you know, my stuff. But much of the time the things that truly bring me anxiety are things that I try to carry that really are out of my hands – things that serve only to bring disquiet to my heart and mind when I take them on as my own.
God desires for me to give it all to Him…even my friends and their concerns. I like to help people…I like to listen…I like to encourage…I like to be needed. I might use the word “like” but “love” is probably a more accurate word. I believe that my desire to help is good but sometimes I think maybe my motivation isn’t. Maybe I want to be the hero of every crisis or at least someone known as one.
My Father is showing me that He has everything handled and I don’t need to stress so much about things. I don’t need to wrap myself up in knots trying to figure out what to do because He has already revealed my recipe for peace:
- Approach things with humility – understand that I don’t have as much power, strength, and ability as I think I do.
- Don’t think I can fix everything…some things are too enormous and only God can handle them.
- Calm and quiet my soul…relax and let God handle it.
- Hope in the Lord for today and all my tomorrows.