Help, I Need an Adult!

Boy, Mom sure was right, as much as I struggle to admit it…life is tough and unfair.  At least at certain points it seems the trials and issues never end.  We make efforts, we believe as best we can, stand on promises, cuss like hell when none of it seems to be working.  All the while we’re getting our asses kicked by out-of-control kids, marriage tensions, car troubles, unexpected medical bills, sick friends and family members and the skunk under the house who just doesn’t want to go away.  You get the jest, I’m sure.  I thought being an adult was going to be, I don’t know…different.

God has to have a sense of humor as He hangs out up in the Heavens watching His creation fumble around like trying to find the bathroom in the middle of the night while dodging a field of Lego landmines.  Every step is potentially a painful disaster just waiting to pound us to our knees.  Then we get mad at Him because it just doesn’t seem like He’s doing anything at all; almost as if, in some sick way, He’s enjoying all of it.

I don’t believe that for second.  But sometimes it seems that way.  Things seem so far out of our control and continue to compile one on top of the other.  You have no idea what to do because the prayers don’t seem to work (at least not in the moment), getting mad hasn’t helped and pretending everything is OK has become exhausting. Options seem to be limited or even non-existent.

This has been our life for the last 6 months.  From a car accident to cancer, an impossible-to-catch critter to life-altering family circumstances – we’ve just about seen it all and it’s been tough on us.  Trust me, I am fully aware that there are many people in this world who have it far worse – I read about them every day.  But that doesn’t make where we are any easier to handle.  It can, at times, help us to appreciate the fact that it could be worse for us.  However, as soon as you get that confident feeling back…BAM!!

We’re exhausted, to say the least.   But we’re not giving up.  That’s the absolute last thing we can do.  That means the enemy, who is very limited in his power, wins.  It means we don’t allow the Power that is within us to command victory in a battle we know has already been won. Like not playing the lottery when you know the winning numbers beforehand.  Sound ridiculous?  Well, that’s what we tend to do, isn’t it?

We need to stop doing that…period.  Life is going to throw all kinds of crap our way.  The enemy is going to stick his grubby little hands into everything he possibly can.  He is going to do everything is his limited, useless, pathetic power to get us to a place where we feel helpless and powerless with no options in sight.  He will convince us that God isn’t listening – that He isn’t going to answer our prayers.  He may even stir the pot enough to make us want to lay it all down and give up completely.

This has been God’s plan all along.

You see, the enemy almost always overplays his hand.  So much in fact, that he ends up playing right into God’s perfect plan.  Giving up is exactly what God wants us to do. Because when we give up and admit we’re done, He can take over and do what only He can do.  He becomes the Hero, not us.  He displays His strength and His love on a whole new level.  Prayers start being answered, unexpected blessings start flowing in and that stupid skunk scurries away and dies somewhere way away from here (OK, that was mean, but seriously, he has to go!).

We need to give up – sooner than later.  We have to come to a place where we step aside and ask God to step in.  He is big enough and strong enough to handle anything and everything on our plate.  None of it has taken Him by surprise anyway.  And more than likely, He designed it all that way so that He can show off a little bit.  He wants to get in the middle of our messes.  So why don’t we let Him?  Who do we think we are?  He, the Creator of all, cares about us so deeply that He is willing to risk everything (remember the Cross?) so that we will depend and rely on Him for our every need.  Take that in for a second.

Our options are clear – one leads to constant stress and worry and small fits of rage, while the other leads to a better place of peace and understanding.  Not that every step is going to be easy, but laying everything down and not trying to fix everything ourselves is a much better way.  In the middle of it all, that can seem very difficult to do – and it is quite difficult.  But it is easier to find that place of surrender on our own than it is to have it be found for us.  I don’t want to end up at the bottom of the pit before I realize there is a better Way.

So bring it on, prince of darkness.  Your days are about over anyway.  I’m putting you in good Hands.  We have a world to reach, love to share and hope to bring to a world that’s out of control.  There’s volleyball games, speaking events and life to be lived.  We don’t have time for your useless shenanigans anymore.

So this is us and where we are; broken and tired. But we’re putting our mess in the hands of the One who can clean it all up. Surrender is a beautiful thing.