Well, it happened again..
Life got crazy and busy.
It never fails that these stressful and activity-consumed times are when I feel most distant from God. Those days when it's hard to make time to soak up my Savior's presence by reading the Word or just having a talk with Him. Or when I get so distracted by all of the business that I come up short and do not give enough effort into my relationship with God.
When I am not spending time with my creator daily, it's easy for me to forget who He is.
No, I don't mean that I actually forgot about God. But maybe I get distracted by my problems and forget about His flawless characteristics, everything that He is capable of, and His unfaltering promises. Being mindful of these things makes for a life filled with peace and confidence, and you can hold your head high knowing that you can depend on God to get you through any situation. But it is only possible to be aware of His selfless character, infallible sense of timing, providing disposition, and peace-giving spirit when you are continually refueling yourself by seeking Him through His Word, prayer, or worship.
Last week I found myself in a confused and panicked state. Life got hectic, and I had not been spending enough time with the Lord. My absence of time with the Lord led me to become even more stressed about life's uncertainties, and I began to wonder how I would ever be able to handle it all on my own.
I became overwhelmed and forgot about His power and capabilities.
And when you forget what He can do, you end up relying on yourself.
It was almost as if I was drawn away into a dark and lonely hallway, full of doors, that were lined up right next to each other on both sides of the hallway. I wasn't looking to God for my answers. I was depending on myself to figure it out and began frantically running to each door trying to see if I could find an answer on the other side.
It's not that I didn't want God's help. I just wanted His plan to line up with mine.
I wanted to be in control.
I was running aimlessly down this dark hallway, swinging open every door that I came to, trying to figure out which one was the right one for me to enter. Every time, however, I found that I had, again, looked in the wrong place for my answer. As I ran down the hallway, opening each and every door, hope and energy were being drained more and more from my restless body with each attempt.
Finally, I came to the end of the long hallway and realized I had no more options. I stared back down the long hallway and noticed the mess I had made. Doors were open everywhere, and I still felt lost. There was nowhere else to look for my answers.
It was then that I realized I couldn't do it on my own.
Isn't it sad that sometimes it takes us realizing we don't have the capability to complete a task on our own before we turn to God for direction? Time after time, He has shown that He is faithful in my situations, yet I get distracted and feel like I have to put forth so much effort for things to work out. I think God appreciates my independent spirit, but He doesn't want me relying on myself.
I was at work the other day, worrying about what to do in my current situation. I was driving myself crazy trying to conjure up the perfect way to solve what I was going through, and then I stopped and looked at myself in the mirror and said, "Kyndall, stop trying to be in control. It's okay that you don't have all of the answers."
That day, I ran across a verse from Exodus 14 that says, "The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still."
The children of Israel were so afraid. The Egyptians that God had previously delivered them from were now marching after them, and God's children stood at the Red Sea with no where to run. They began crying out to God in fear and criticizing Moses for the situation he caused them to be in. The Egyptians were coming and the children of Israel were surely going to die. Moses then reminded the Israelites who was on their side.
Moses lifted up his rod and stretched his hand out over the sea. The sea divided. And the children of Israel walked across the middle of the sea on dry ground. The Lord provided a way out.
"The Lord will fight for you."
Can anything possibly be more reassuring than this statement?
I can sit around all day worrying about how to fix my problems, or trying to figure out which path is the best one for me to take, but God didn't intend for us to have all of the answers or to rely on what we know or what we can do.
The Israelites had no where to turn, and cried out to God in fear. Think about everything that God had already delivered these people from. If they had been more in tune with God's goodness, they should have known that God was going to take care of the situation. It's easy for us to see that the children of Israel should have had more faith, but we do the exact same thing.
All we see is the army chasing after us and the sea standing before us.
But God doesn't want us to panic or be overcome by fear when things seem uncertain. The Lord wants you to sit back and rest today knowing that He is on your side and He is fighting for you.
