I had a little light bulb moment recently. Oprah calls them "Aha moments" (and I think we should all quote Oprah whenever the opportunity presents itself). Here's my Aha: There's a difference between praying about something—discussing it with God—and truly lifting something up—giving it over to God and letting go of it altogether. I have a tendency to pray about problems while continuing to try and solve them myself. What if this happens? What if that happens? What am I going to say to this person? What should I do about that situation? How's it all going to turn out in the end? Over and over in my muddled brain till I can't sleep or think about anything other than whatever issue I'm obsessing about. I continue to pray . . . but I continue to obsess. Not long ago, however, I had a situation where God seemed to be sending me a clear message: "You are apparently STILL unaware of what I can do, so watch this and pay attention." Something that had worried me and stressed me and made me a grand champion hand-wringer was just fixed. Through no doing of mine. And in a way that I never could have imagined, let alone engineered.
I recently shared a song with a friend (so Michelle, if you're reading this, forgive the repetition). It's one of those great old-fashioned gospel songs that our choir loved to sing years ago. It's called "God Said You're Gonna Make It," and it goes like this:
God said you're gonna make it;
You're gonna make it through the raging storm;
Don't worry over thunder;
You're not going under;
God said you're gonna make it—
You're gonna make it for the Master's on board.
[from "God Said You're Gonna Make It"
by Niles Borop, Mike Speck & Daryl Williams]
Sending it out this morning to some very special women in my family (love you, Dothan girls!) and to anyone who needs a little assurance that there's a way over those troubled waters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0a2VbVqBNg