Weddings and Renovations

“I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me ”

Phillipians 4:13

This summer has come and gone in a whirlwind of activity! My family decided to begin some simple renovations to our kitchen in the spring. Well, we thought simple! Nothing major; replace windows with French doors,  build a new deck off those doors, close off a hallway, and make a new doorway to the pantry. Doesn’t sound major, right? Well, we got the ball rolling and then we had another layer added to the project.

Our daughter decided her wedding reception would be in our backyard. No biggie, it was 8 weeks away and we had Plenty of time! It was a small wedding and reception-a barbecue really-only 25 guests!
So we plunged ahead! We got part of it done by the reception in the middle of July; now we are a month after that and still trying to finish! Ugh, it will never be completed!! It feels like the proverbial, “three steps forward, two steps back”.

Then, in all of this chaos, I ask myself what this must look like to God. When we run crazily through days, weeks, months and sometimes years trying to fix, replace, and repair our lives. Doing all of the hard stuff on our own or worse yet, trying to find others to do the job and striking out. The entire time we’re running around like chickens or puppies chasing our tails,  God is standing in the wings waiting for us to cry out for help.
When we finally do, He steps up and gives us calm,  wipes the tears, sweat, and sometimes blood.  Then He carefully begins to put order back where there was previously chaos. The major key to this: we have to step back, get out of the way, and let Him do the work! We cannot try to grab it back from Him and fix it ourselves. We have already proven we can’t do it! But the Master,  the creator of the entire universe, is able to do all things! We just have to sit and watch. Fast results? Immediate answers? No, not always. But the Right ones at the RIGHT time!

God, give us the strength and the willingness to let You take over and do the work!
In Jesus precious name, amen.

Sandra Sanders, boundless trust