The other night, my oldest daughter and I walked around a bookstore for about an hour. We like to take pictures of all the books we want to read. We took a fair number of pictures but bought nary a book. I’m sure Barnes and Noble loves us. 

We had been chatting, discussing, and pondering things going on in her life most of the evening. While we browsed through the fiction section, she said this to me, “If someone wrote a book about me, I wonder what bits and pieces they’d use to tell my story.” 

I stopped short and looked intently at her, “Em, that was profound. I love that!”

“Well, would this thing bothering me make it into the book? If it wouldn’t, why am I worrying about it?”

Amen to that! 

I am one of the most extraordinary ponderers, second-guessers, and I-wonderers. Sometimes things seem monumental…little things, big things…all the things. I can jump into pits of thinking faster than life can dig them. I can run ahead of outcomes and fear endings. I can put hope in the craziest places, even places I know will offer nothing in return. I can run from truth into lies and even create a bit of wonkiness in my world. 

And I can even look at great big things that God has done and still get afraid of the future. I can see His provision all around me and still worry about being able to take care of things well. I know God is good, loving, and kind, and I still wonder if He will protect me. 

I’m like Peter walking on water, looking away from Jesus and sinking. I sometimes take my eyes off Jesus when things get rough and complicated. 

I’m like Elijah, who saw God’s awesomeness on display against the Baal prophets but still fears Jezabel and despairs of living. When God does something awesome, sometimes, when the next challenge comes, I forget His ability to deal with things. 

I’m like the Israelites whom God rescued from Egypt, guided with pillars of fire and smoke, led through a river away from an army, and provided for daily yet still they grumbled, complained, and even built and worshipped a pathetic golden calf. When I’ve seen God lead, guide, and provide, I can sometimes complain about what I don’t have rather than the many things I do. I can make an idol out of security…my own golden calf.

I have a garage holding a whole classroom library, lesson plans for years of teaching multiple grades and subjects, and all the odds and ends a teacher accumulates over the years. My garage is one big labyrinth of unnecesary things. Recently, I had an epiphany while tripping and grumbling through my garage full of boxes. I could let it all go, stop falling over it, and trust God will provide if I need it again. 

These bits and pieces of my life no longer need to be part of my story. I’ve decided to load them up a few boxes at a time into the back of my car and share them with colleagues, friends, and Goodwill.

This epiphany made me look at all the bits and pieces in my house. Much of it seems unnecessary. 

But it’s not just the things, not just the stuff that fills drawers, closets, bookshelves, baskets, and garages. It’s the things that fill my heart. The things I hold onto that don’t need to be so firmly grasped…like needing to be perfect. Like feeling frustrated, unforgiving, angry, or bitter. Those irksome feelings that sneak up on any given day. Those things…all those things… need to be released so the Holy Spirit can do a new work in me. 

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19

Like all the boxes in my garage, I can get rid of things that trip me up and cause me to stumble…that fill me with anxious thoughts and fear of the future, or indecision and second-guessing. If I let go of all the bits and pieces that aren’t worthy of my story, I am free to embrace those that are. I’m free to love and live and serve and bless and rest. 

God calls me to a life of freedom in Him. He calls me to cast my cares on Him, let go of my anxious thoughts, and keep my eyes on Him and the future He is preparing for me even now.

I don’t want to trip over all the things of the past, the anxiousness of the present, or the fears of the future…I want to trust God. He promises to be with me always, to provide for me, to give me rest and refreshment, to heal me, and to guide me.  

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, 

he leads me beside quiet waters, 

he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.  Psalm 23:1-3

If I trust and believe God, I can lean into Him and away from all the stuff that causes me to trip and stumble. I can let go of all the bits and pieces so that I can rest in Him and live in the story He has written for me.