Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Life can be so maddeningly frustrating sometimes. There are people out there that seem to have such great control over the seasick uncertainties of life. It seems that they get what we want without half the perplexity and self-doubt that we experience.

Life seems like an endless jigsaw puzzle of pieces that don’t quite fit, or that seem to fit, but get disrupted before a complete picture can be formed.

Why didn’t this work out for me? How come it’s so easy for them?

Aren’t we supposed to understand how life works so that we can function effectively as a mature human beings? Why don’t all the pieces just work?

And then we come face to face with this verse:

Philippians 4:6 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Giving up the right to be anxious is a scary thing. If one doesn’t carry a certain load of anxiety, how will things be thought through properly? What if something negative happens that could have been avoided with proper preparation? What if I miss opportunities because of a lack of awareness?

The reality is that life is too big for us to sit down and plan out all the details. It is not cowardly to admit that we can’t control the minutiae, even of the most important things. Life in this world is simply to big.

What a provocative challenge, then, to be told not to be anxious, but to depend on God. With thanksgiving! It takes quite the nerve to ask us to do that, unless that the Asker has the ability to back up such a command.

The uncertainty of life, building character through adversity, and the advisability of comparing ourselves with others are topics for another time. Here, we take a moment and consider that God doesn’t want us to be anxious.

Fretful moments. Let God know what the cares are. Release the anxiety. Let your life hum a note of praise as you live to see the goodness of God in your life. Only God can pilot this ship through the uncertain waves of life. Trust is a better way to live than being forever in the grasp of fear and regret.

Psa 27:13-14
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!