So, after the 2011 Freestone County Parade last night, which was great as usual and a true reflection of "Small Town U.S.A" we sat around here and visited with a new family in town. The subject turned to a root canal that one of the men had scheduled for Thursday and how several of us in attendance hated needles, shots, and everything related to medical pain. The true tales followed a similar plot of times being strapped down in the ER or in the dentist chair. We were a modern, country version of ER around my kitchen bar and table for 30 minutes or so. One of the 5 year olds shared a tale of how she decked a nurse on accident one time when she was going to have her chin stitched up. Her story won first place in my book.
The thought entered my mind again this morning first thing when I walked over to check in on my daughter's lamb. I cracked up thinking back to how my Dad and I had wrestled the lamb to the ground one evening to give it a shot. Then, a month later for the booster, my Father in Law and I had round 2 in the ring and the lamb won! My fond and funny memories with the lamb have a common thread to the stories we shared last night. It seems to be human nature, life in the flesh at all levels, to fight when we fear or when we do not like being held down and trapped!
Refusal to be still, give up the fight, and let someone do something to help you are not only true with dreaded trips to the doctor, dentist or with show animals and shots. We struggle and fight life all of the time. When all is well, we often look for something to stir us up. Many of us seem to be addicted to conflict. The sad thing too is that when we look around us for even a second, we will always find something to stir us up, make us complain, or cause us to talk too much. The enemy makes sure of that and loves it when we struggle!
That is not the only way that we fight through this life. We also fight to fix things that are out of our control. This is my own personal struggle. There is no rest and there is no peace when we are trying to work on something or someone that only the Lord can fix. If we can only keep our eyes on the Lord and our personal relationship with Him, He will guide and direct us when we need to be involved. In the mean time, we better just rest and know He is at work. We can always join in with Jesus in prayer too. That always brings peace to a tough situation and rest to our souls....even when we or our loved ones are knee-deep in conflict. Time on the phone with a friend can help, but only time with the Father can heal.
What is it today that you are fighting with? Is it a person, a part of your past, a habit you are trying to break, a decision you need to make, or a loved one or situation you just can't seem to figure out? Stop fighting with it. Let go! The struggle is over the minute you give it to the Lord. You may only have to "give it" to Him one time or it may be a daily thing you have to do, but you need not fight anymore. When is the last time you wrestled a little one or an animal to give them medicine or pull out a sticker...it is a pretty, funny sight and amazing how strong even a light animal or a little human can be. We look pretty funny too when we fight, fuss, and hold on for too long. I wonder if the Lord sits up in heaven and laughs at how stupid we look when we struggle so much and all along, He must smile knowing that when we give up, He will take over!
I discovered a new song this morning while I was running that really caused me to link all of this together and sit down for a minute at the computer. Someone had changed my settings on my "Shuffle" or whatever it is called and since I am clueless about modern technology, I had to listen to it several times. It so spoke to me! I pray that the words from Psalms 46:10 too meet you where you are today.
"Hush, be still,
Hush, be still,
Hush, be still,
and know I am God.
Rest, be still,
Rest, be still,
Rest, be still
and know I am God.
I am in control
and I am in love with you
so do not be afraid,
right now I am giving you breath,
right now, I am holding you,
oh, please hush, be still,
hush, be still, hush, be still,
and know I am God.
