But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Then have no care for tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Take the trouble of the day as it comes.
Matthew 6:33-34
Some people are weavers: they take lots of loose threads and weave them into something new and beautiful and useful. I used to see myself as a weaver’s assistant as I looked for what had unraveled and tried to stop it. I tried to grab those loose ends and weave them back into the fabric of life, I wanted to feel safe, and the burden was so heavy, so impossible
Jugglers are people who keep things moving in the air. Think of a juggler keeping eight plates all spinning at the same time on thin flexible rods. He runs back and forth, jiggling the rod in just the right way to keep the plates spinning, knowing that when he stumbles, slows down or stops, some plates will crash to the floor. Sometimes I used to feel like the juggler’s assistant. I imagined those plates spinning out of control and felt the need to step in and do the pole jiggling and balancing if the juggler did not notice the problem I saw. I wanted to feel in control, and the burden was so heavy, so impossible.
Cast all your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
Psalms 55:2
I had to learn to trust God so fully that I could lay my burdens at His feet. I had to learn that when I thought I was walking with God but only saw one set of footprints in the sand, He was already carrying me. He was and is and will be the safe haven He promises each of us. I had to trust Him on that.
Even as followers of Christ, we too often don’t turn to God first in all things. But through Him, all things are possible. In two places in the Bible, Jesus says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 18:26 and Mark 10:27.
Letting God carry my burdens allowed me to drop the shackles that kept me from living life as fully as I do now. But it is a daily process and it involves more than just saying, “You can take it now, Lord.” I still have a responsibility to proactively pay attention to and address what is demanded of me. And I can only do that by seeking His direction from His book daily and seeking His will, not mine. When I am consistent with this, I have tacked challenges and achieved success in ways I did not think I could, and have reaped far more than I had expected.
A recent case in point: Our homeowners association (HOA) has been falling apart for a long time and was on a precipice. Some angry homeowners asked me to lead a coalition to force the skeleton board of directors out of office, but they had no plan what to do next. I did not know if that was the right approach and I frankly did not want to become “too” involved, but I prayed about it diligently for two months, stepped out of my self-conceived safe box, and invited 20 people to our home to talk about a path forward.
Right at this time, our Grace teaching pastors had begun the study of Samuel, and something started to click. Like David, we needed to learn how and when to wage a battle and when to let God do the work. We needed to recognize our inadequacies and allow God to change us and the outcome. Personally, I had to go to three people in our HOA, humble myself, and ask for their forgiveness for not supporting them when they were struggling with HOA issues. That was hard, but they accepted. I also had to confront two people who verbally attacked me numerous times for not doing what they thought I should be doing. This David met their Goliath and I had the courage to let them know I would not be intimidated by them, because I knew I was following God’s plan. I also had to forgive them in my heart so I did not pull that burden along behind Me.
Each of the two books of Samuel resulted in new insights that were immediately needed and useful for our new HOA Board, every week, and always when we or I needed it—never before. That continues in Kings. Our board is now comprised of 5 followers of Christ, with the previous members deciding to resign because they had felt they didn’t have a path forward. Recently our board embarked on an intense 2-month Leadership class based on a program by Christian writer, John C. Maxwell, and led by a neighbor who is trained in this program. The book of Kings is talking about Leadership—how timely! In just four weeks we have all noticed subtle and important changes in our we interact as a team charged with a very important set of tasks.
God has a plan for each of us as individuals and as families and as groups. Seeking His plan rather than thinking we can go it alone always works better—always. There are insights we humans are incapable of seeing without God’s leadership. There are things we could not accomplish without being strong leaders who follow Christ. It simply works.
I’ve been a Tennessee girl for 5 years so far, and do not miss the very cold winters or the dense
mosquito population of the Minnesota and Wisconsin areas. My husband Tom of 45 years and I, share three girls and three grandchildren, who sadly still live up north.
I love fiber, having started to sew on a machine at age seven. That evolved into working with all
sorts of fibers that I enjoy figuring out how to incorporate into a wide variety of art straight from
my crazy imagination. I’m also an avid reader and love to sing. Tom has also created art in a wide variety of medium, but since moving here, he has focused on woodturning. We belong to the Plateau Creative Arts Center at Fairfield Glade and participate in many art shows throughout Tennessee. But we do take breaks from art to experience all the Southern United States has to offer, often camping, and often 4-wheeling.
For decades, my life motto has been “Choose To Be Joyful.” One of the blogs I write will be on
that topic.
With Love, Joy and Faith,
Sally
- God’s Plan is Better Than Mine - September 27, 2023