A little sloth once taught me that it is important to be peaceful instead of anxious, rushed, or so busy that your mind is never focused on Christ. It was a lesson worth learning.
As I spend time with my two little nephews, Jason and Jack, who are two years and eleven months old, respectively, I learn from them, too. Jason, in particular, loves to get himself into dangerous situations (i.e. standing on the very edge of the couch) and knows that someone will be there to grab him before he falls. It really turns into a game, which we don’t always appreciate, but his unfailing trust in his caretakers is something I envy. Why don’t we trust God like that?
Not that we should be getting ourselves into trouble and expecting God to get us out, but why don’t we dare to do the risky things for Him? Why don’t we take what He tells us, be at peace with it, and go for it, knowing that He will take care of us no matter what?
This is something that I’ve been working on for the last few years. I used to get so anxious and drive myself nuts while worrying about all the things coming up in my day/week/month/lifetime. I would make myself sick thinking about how stressful a situation will be, or dwelling on all the little things that could possibly go wrong.
And boy, am I glad that I remembered that sloth.
Before you think that I might be going crazy, let me remind you (or enlighten you) about a lovely little radio show from the 90’s called “Jungle Jam and Friends: The Radio Show”. It featured many talking animals, clever humor that still makes me laugh, and valuable Biblical principles taught in a unique way. One of those principles was peace.
I remember listening to this one particular episode about the sloth while I was working (because what else do you listen to when you’re trying to stay awake while staring mindlessly at alignment tubes through a magnifying glass for ten hours a day?) and thinking of how much I needed that peace. No worries, no anxiety, no stress.
Then it hit me. I can have that peace any time I want.
I put it in practice immediately. Every time I began to worry or feel stressed about the future, I took a deep breath and reminded myself that God is in control. He’s got this. I can trust Him even if I don’t know what will happen.
It’s so simple. Just trust God. But is it easier said than done?
Honestly, it shouldn’t be difficult. Let’s look at people who have trusted the Creator, and everything has worked out just fine.
Abraham and Isaac
Think about God telling you to kill your beloved son. How many of you would be at peace with that? Now think about being offered up as a sacrifice by your own father. Still not so peaceful.
Yet, Abraham knew that God would take care of Isaac, and Isaac knew that his father was doing what God told him to do. They both trusted the Lord, and were blessed with His mercy, as well as being the forefathers of a nation.
Jonah
Yeah, he’s not the ideal role model, but that’s why I’m bringing him up. He didn’t trust God at first. He ran the other way, and you know where that got him.
When he turned around and did what he was supposed to do in the first place, God touched the hearts of thousands, leading to a mass repentance in Ninevah. Even though Jonah’s heart wasn’t in it, God’s plan for him still brought about massive change and saved a lot of people.
Jesus
I can’t talk about trusting God and accepting His peace without mentioning Jesus. Jesus may have been fully God, but He was also fully man, and fully able to feel pain. The night that He spent praying in the garden of Gethsemane shows that He was afraid to go through the painful death that He knew was coming. Afraid. Jesus was afraid!
But He trusted His Father. He told Him that He would do what it takes, whatever the will of the Father is, to finish this. And He did. He took a deep breath, turned around, and faced the officers who had come to arrest Him. He was calm, even if He was afraid, because He knew who was really in control.
Things aren’t always going to be easy, even when we do trust fully in God. After all, Jesus did suffer horribly. But in the end, it was exactly what God intended, and because of it, we can now live forever in Heaven with Him!
Here’s the challenge, and as I begin to freak out about leaving on the World Race, I am challenging myself as much as you.
Whenever you find yourself worrying, stressing, or frustrated, take a deep breath.
When you have taken your deep breath, think about who is really in control.
When you remember who holds the whole world in His hands, look down. Take one small step at a time. Don’t get ahead of yourself.
The best advice I can take from this lesson myself is to simply accept a kind of peace that doesn’t make sense for the situation, and remember who will be there for me every step of the way.
