“Write in the messy” she said. Oh, wait, that was me saying that. This morning I am feeling particularly trapped and overwhelmed by the “cares of this world”.
I spoke about this very thing at a women’s retreat this past weekend. In preparing and sharing I was reminded that it is often the little obstacles and annoyances in life that wreak havoc on my serenity: in my case, it’s been a dead battery in my car which is still sitting 20 miles away, leaving essential items in my car, getting picked up by my husband and speeding to pick up the cat from the vet before it closes, somehow locking myself out of my house while draining the hot tub, and working out this morning only to have our internet fail in the middle of my workout, cancelling it abruptly. I have a few interviews today that require internet so I guess I’ll work on that after I go try to jump start my car.
I know. Sad story. Poor me.
I am writing because it seems like the only thing that might turn this day around and get me some perspective. Anyone else have days/weeks/months like this?
So, instead of focusing on all that really doesn’t matter in the scheme of things that do matter, let’s pause together, pray together, and proceed to some truths that will give us some peace.
Last time I wrote (check it out now if you haven’t read the first part of “IT”) I talked about how you are not IT. The object(s) of the IT was whatever character defect, addiction, or signature sin you battle. It may be an area you need to grow in or give up. But IT does not define who you are. That is a job reserved for your Creator alone.
And speaking of God, let’s shift our thinking and declare that, in the full picture, He is the ultimate IT. Not the kind of IT that haunts and shames you. The kind of IT that encompasses the beginning and end of life and of you. There is a Power that has the ability to banish what threatens to harm or master you, and that Power is God. He is the ultimate IT.
I love the image of God being IT. Not just any IT. The one and only IT.
When we play tag, we declare someone IT. And what is that person’s job? To chase down the other players. To capture. To seek out those who are hiding until he finds them. And no human can play the game with that kind of passion, love or relentless searching. Only God is that invested in seeing every last player be found.
And only God has the power to turn your day or your life around. Only God has the power to instill in you the strength you need to turn the drama, the trauma and the minutia of everyday life into something useful, hopeful and beautiful.
I intend to put my money where my mouth is today. I spoke this weekend about how I want to let God have all of me, good and bad. I want Him to use even the seemingly insignificant circumstances, like car batteries and internet services dying, to help me grow up and learn what I can learn in no other way.
God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving IT. And I hate to break it to you, but you are still not IT. 🙂
