top of page

December 20, 2019

Updated: Dec 28, 2019

Come unto me all yea that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

- Matthew 11:28

 

The Lord said "come unto me…I will give you rest.” 


I had a situation yesterday, where a friend of mine was moving residence, from a boarding house to a flat  a few kilometres away. A third party had arranged a removal truck and two workers to be at the boarding house for a 12-noon start.


My friend was coming down from the country, where he is staying temporarily, and got caught in horrendous traffic, making him one hour late. He didn’t arrive until 1pm himself. The truck wasn't there. He began to panic because he could see the boarding house charging him another $600, which he didn't have to spare. What made the situation worse was, he couldn't get onto the third party, because the bloke had taken a day off and was not contactable. 


My friend rang me in a dishevelled state. I asked a couple of questions and got some answers, then started ringing around. The other bloke my friend was with also began ringing. We were able to sort the problem out. The truck was booked for 3pm, not 12 noon. The third-party person had made a couple of mistakes by not passing on vital information before he took the day off. 


Anyhow, at exactly 3pm the truck showed up, the workers jumped into the job packing stuff in boxes and blanketing all the precious items. The place was emptied within an hour, and by 6pm it was completely delivered to the new address, all very efficiently. By 6:15pm the truck had gone, and I was saying goodbye to my mate and his friend. His mind was at rest. 


In moments like this, we can find ourselves under similar pressure in our own lives. We think the wheels have fallen off our organised procedure and the day is turning to mud. We say, ‘I prayed to God to bless the day, so why is it falling apart?”


My friend thought the same thing. However, he didn't give God enough credit. The only thing that fell apart was the timeframe and some communication. God was well aware there was a later time organised at 3pm, but my mate was panicking at 1pm, two hours too early. 


The Lord says in Hebrews 13:5 that He will 'never leave us, nor forsake us,’ so why do we panic? 


We mainly panic for two reasons. 

1. because we are the ones in the middle under pressure. My mate was in the thick of it. It was fine for me and his friend to gallop in with a few answers, but we weren’t the one under the pressure. That is why we need to ask for help sometimes in pressured situations. It’s not that we are somehow deficient, but just need a clear set of eyes to see what we presently cannot. 

2. We don't give the Lord the benefit of the doubts we have had: and we do doubt! In the moment, we don’t stop to adjust our faith back to where it should be — Rock Solid! 


The Lord had it under control all the time, but my friend couldn't see it through the fog he created by panicking. We have all done that at some time or another, and felt the burning heat of embarrassment later, knowing we lacked faith. Thankfully, this great lesson for us was cheap. Some aren't.


These types of circumstances are called growing pains. We sing loudly that God is our all-in-all and closer than a brother; then, given the moment, we don't think he is anywhere to be seen, and we have to find Him, then wake him up to resolve our problem. 


God knows all that goes on in your life and mine. He is not the one remiss, we are. He needs us to tune into our own faith-based lives to see what He sees — clarity and solutions.  


Today's prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for this story and the things the bloke went through, as I have sometimes been exactly the same. In the future I will have panic situations, so please help me to stop and steady myself, and realign with you, knowing you are there and already working on a solution.  

Comments


Subscribe via email

Thanks for submitting!

bottom of page