"How much do we
have to show the people we love?"
-Allie Condie (Crossed)
-Allie Condie (Crossed)
The world turns out
of our hands. Essentially, there is nothing we can do to stop that.
Circumstances occur out of our realm of influence, and yet we are expected to
carry on with this thing call life.
So what can we do?
Many things in my
world have begun to change lately. Realities that have remained constant
throughout my eighteen years thus far are shaking and crumbling before me. Most
of these changes are merely page-turners to another chapter in my life, a
chapter that I’ve always known would inevitably come.
Regardless, it is
hard to deal with things that I cannot control, and as a result I have been
overly moody and emotional. This fact has bled over into every aspect of my
life.
One struggle I have been wrestling with (emotionally
and physically) has been with friends. My tendency to want to fix everything
(and everyone) is oftentimes met with resistance…after all, I can’t do it. It
is out of my hands. There is only one person I can change, and that is myself,
but more often than not I forget that and instead focus my energy on wanting to
heal the entire world. I overlook the fact that my own heart is in dire need of
healing and that I need a Savior to heal me 24/7.
Last night I was talking with a friend, and we
arrived at a single, unmoving question that daunted us both: what do we do now?
Shockingly enough, I was at a loss for words. No ingenious solution came to
mind. No divine revelation passed through my brain. For anyone who knows me
well, that is not a common occurrence. Instead, I felt completely broken and
useless. “I don’t know,” I said.
Almost desperately, I picked up my Bible, but then I
simply stared at it in my hands. Hundreds of pages of pure wisdom and insight…where
did I start looking when I had no idea what answer I was looking for? A silent
prayer kept running through my head: “What do I do, God? What do I do?”
Colossians was the next book for me to tackle on my
schedule that I’ve been trying to stick with for the past three years. From
chapter one, a few verses stuck out to me. “…we have not stopped praying for you
and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual
wisdom and understanding.” My heart kind of breathed a longing sigh when I read
that. Yes, that’s what I want. Maybe I can’t fix the world or foretell the
future, but I can pray! The next verses explained that, “we pray this in order
that you may life a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way…” This
is our true purpose, “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (a little catechism
there), and when we are pleasing Him, we feel the exhilaration of carrying out
the job that was charged us! This entails:
- “bearing fruit in every good work” – being productive and seeing the results of your good work.
- “growing in the knowledge of God” – becoming wiser and more capable of handling situations set before us
- “being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” – who doesn’t want that, right??
- “and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
When searching for an unknown answer with an even
vaguer question, I couldn’t imagine a more appropriate or inspiring response. The
Creator of all things chose you and
me to be a part of this incredible thing! It’s a lot to wrap your head around.
He “qualified” us, meaning we couldn’t have done it on our own. It’s by His
love and mercy that we can take a confusing, messed up world full of
uncertainties and doubts and make it a place of beauty.
With all the graduations going on lately and so many
What-do-I-do-nows clouding our judgment, Colossians 1:9-12 gives the
reassurance that through prayer, everything will be alright. We have a loving
Father; we have the promise of more than we can imagine. What do we do now?
There is nothing we can’t do now!
