Be at Peace

Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us, "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen." Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." We sometimes trust in things and individuals that really aren't all that trustworthy. Where do you place your trust today? Is it in your financial well-being or career pathway? Is it in your ability to figure almost anything out without much effort? Or is your trust in something some may refer to as a little more 'divine' like a guardian angel? There is but one reliable place to put your trust - the cross. At the cross, all we needed was provided. All we never knew we needed was provided!

Are we guilty of depending on our own understanding to figure out what is going on in our lives? If so, we likely have a very limited perspective and could actually be trusting in something that we can see or feel more than the one who knows all things. The Lord is creator of all things. As such, he knows how all things operate, how they coexist in harmony with each other, and what happens when those 'coexistent parts' get out of harmony with each other. In case you haven't noticed, life is made up of a whole bunch of 'coexistent parts' that actually need to remain in harmony with each other because when that harmony is disturbed, life gets more difficult and our pathway through it becomes rather rocky.

I take moments alone with Jesus to ask the hard question: "What is it I am not seeing here?" There is more to be discovered than we see on the surface. The struggles exist, but understanding what is 'beneath' those struggles is something we might need to ask God to show us. We won't discover those things without his help. We need to remain teachable, even when we find the path we are on a little treacherous, worrisome, or downright hard to handle. Life may be throwing us curve balls right now, but we don't have to swing at them! We might need to let them pass on by and take the next swing. There is never any shame in telling God we don't understand the lack of harmony in what should be 'coexistent parts'. 

Since the Creator is aware of all that is unseen, we must trust him with what we do not know. We must do everything within our ability to maintain the harmony within our own lives, but we don't do it without his leading and watchful care. We submit our lives to him, placing the control of all that is happening squarely in his hands, and then we trust that what we don't see is also in his tender care and under his watchful eye. Just sayin!