To manage or to trust God
Recently we had some friends from Oregon stop by for a visit. It was a B.S.D., Before the Smoke Days so it was beautiful blue sky, warm but not hot, kind of a Norman Rockwell day.
One friend expressed his desire to want to move to a better place with less people and less rain. He asked many a question about what it was like living in North Idaho. Being a bit biased, I touted the scenery, the clean air, the people, as well as the hiking, fishing and hunting. After listening to to him describe his list of what he was looking for I had one question. “Do you like snow?” says I. He hesitated momentarily then said while holding his hand close to the ground, “I can handle some but not too much.” I then explained last winter’s snows and it was if the wind had left his sail and the excitement in relocating here wilted.
If only we could manage the weather. If we could just flick a switch to stop the snow or blow the smoke away. It seems only fitting we could as we are able to manage, or think we are able to, our kids, our health, our future, our neighbors. Shoot, I can’t even control my dog. We can spend a great deal of time trying to control the unmanageable, trying to make people and circumstances safe and predictable, insulating ourselves from risk. At times we can have considerable success as well as great failures. My wife and I were wise and had great success and thinking of our sons future wives when we trained them to put the seat back down when finished in the john. But our success was limited when it came to trying to control teenage hooliganism.
It should come as no surprise to us then that we have the same tendency to try to manage, manipulate, restrain, supervise and even control the Lord of our lives. What encourages us is that we seem to have success until the unmanageable “snow storm or blanket of smoke” shows up only to remind us that we’re not the ones in control. Sure there’s time to think, plan and use that mass between our ears but we are not called to try and manage our Heavanly Father as if He was a servant. We are exhorted, pleaded with and even commanded to trust Him with all that we are and all that we have.
Trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understandings. In all or ways acknowledge Him and He will direct our lives. Proverbs 3:5-6.
Bruce Macek is pastor at Newman Community Bible Church, 9230 Sagle Road.