Hi Friends! This past week I worked at VBS at my church. I had a great time learning all the fun songs and hanging out with some pretty cool third graders. One kid in particular was able to remind me a little bit about what trusting Jesus looks like because I seemed to have forgotten for a second. So one of our activities was to cut a single piece of paper so that we could both fit through it. At first, I was thinking oh goodness this is going to be a mess. I couldn’t see how this was going to work. But the little boy was excited and wanted to start cutting. He was ready to give it his best shot. I told him to wait and let’s think about it for a second because I wanted to get it right. He was still eager to cut so I eventually decided to just let him go for it. He started cutting and I watched as he cut in a way that opened the paper so that we could both fit through it. I never thought of cutting it like that. We moved on to the next activity and that was that. Though today during church I kept thinking about this moment. And eventually I realized that God might have been trying to teach me something through that tiny little moment.
I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to mess up. Unfortunate since that does not keep it from happening. Messing up is a part of life. I just don’t like it. I don’t ever want others to be upset with me, which again is unfortunate because we simply cannot control others. I like to take things slow. I’m indecisive and I like to wait to know everything’s going to work out before moving forward. I’m not a quick decision maker, I like to know that ultimately, I know what I’m doing before I begin anything. In some ways, this is a good quality. It typically keeps me from making bad decisions, although it definitely still does happen. So while I trust the Lord, when I’m presented with a situation that seems a little risky I’m quick to step back and question God as to what the heck is happening. I’m so focused on getting things right and figuring out how this fits into the plan that sometimes I forget to just trust God and live. It’s really so simple looking at it like that, just trusting and living.
My favorite author in the world is Bob Goff. Like seriously y’all if you haven’t read his two books you are missing out. He has lived the craziest and coolest life and the way he connects that to God is enchanting. I’ll leave the link to both books at the bottom of this post! Anyway, he wrote something in his book “Everybody, always” that hit me hard. He wrote “What if Gods big plan for our lives is that we wouldn’t spend so much time trying to figure out a big plan for our lives? Perhaps he just wants us to love Him and love each other.” Like wow. I think that’s exactly what he wants. So when I think back to that moment at VBS I remember how I approached the situation. Just like I typically do. Trying to get it right and figure out how it was going to work. And then I think about the little boy’s perspective of just trusting we’d figure it out and being eager to give it a try whether we got it right or wrong. He trusted it would work out either way. And that’s how I want to live. Because here’s the thing about trust. When you trust someone your saying, I believe in you and know that things are going to work out, right or wong. It’s not perfect or planned, it just is. And y’all how cool is that. Trust doesn’t have a script or an order it’s raw and real. When we have complete trust in the Lord, we aren’t looking around and trying to figure out what he’s doing. I think we simply believe that he’s got it under control and that we should give it our best try, right or wrong.
Nobody expects you to be prefect. Because we just simply are not. Life is messy and that results in some wrong turns. Wrong turns that sometimes lead us to lonely and scary destinations that feel hopeless. But if we remember who we trust, I think standing up after the fall of hopelessness gets easier. Sometimes when life doesn’t go as planned and I’m questioning what the purpose of these disappointments are, I picture myself holding Gods hand and squeezing it tight. Closing my eyes and just having faith that things are going to be ok. Because I know they will be eventually, since I have trust in a creator so full of goodness and promise.
I know I’ll have days where I mess up and resort back to my ways of trying to figure out how life fits into a perfectly organized plan. But as a whole, I want to worry less about the what if’s and simply trust. I want to look at life like the little boy at VBS and simply be eager to try the tasks God places in front of me, right or wrong. Because I’ve learned recently that our God has a pretty good idea of what he’s doing. We aren’t going to always get things right. Sometimes we mess up and have to step away and realize wow that wasn’t good, let’s try something different. And while that’s really hard for me and maybe some of you, I want to try. I want to remember who I trust. And I think that if we can remember who we trust and how widely perfect his plan is for us, it’s easier to let go of perfection and just try. Because truthfully, right or wrong, this is your life to live, and as far as I’m concerned, why not live it?
All the Love, Annie
( Click the titles below to view Bobs books )
I loved this. Annie you are special
Game changer! Awesome article, Annie! ❤️❤️❤️