It'll Do Us Some Good To Just Let It All Go

Where's God in this mess?

 This month of June is the last month of me being a teenager. And to be honest, looking back at who I was when I was 14 and 15, I couldn't see past being 16 or 17. But now, being almost 20, it's crazy to be able to look back on those 'rough patches' and see how God has brought me through. I'm now in a place where I never thought I'd be. There's been so much of myself that has changed since December of 2009 that it's almost crazy. The verses that come to mind:

Psalms 18:35
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
         Your right hand has held me up,
         Your gentleness has made me great.

Psalm 139:9-10
If I take the wings of the morning,
         And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
         And Your right hand shall hold me.

These verses were spoken over me before I was born; the first one was the verse that was given to me with my first name, Elaine. The second one was given to me in tune with my middle name, Nicole. And the crazy part is, is that I can look back, and both of these verses are more than active in my life.

Last year, as I was preparing for the internship, there were so many lessons I learned between January and the beginning of July that I had to learn to apply them to circumstances and such during the 6 months of the internship. 2010 was such a year of learning for me; so much that I'd heard having grown up in church, that I suddenly had to re-learn just so those statutes could be applicable in specific times. I had nothing to fall back on but my Daddy's arms. Literally. And despite of all the awful things that happened with friends, family, etc, those 6 months of preparation for the internship had to be the greatest; it set me up for everything I needed during OTI. Talk about divine intervention!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that despite all the "bad" in my life at this moment, God knows what He's doing. And to be making my own plans is only but interfering with what my Father's ultimate plan is. Which, once again, brings me to Matthew 6:25-34. I don't need to worry about anything! Never! All I have to do is know that even in those bad times, those stressful times, those times where I want to scream and cry, and pull out my hair, that its 'even there His hand shall lead me, and His right hand shall hold me.'

I need not worry, for 'by worrying can I add one cubit to my stature?' God is the one in control. When we get to that point where we're worried, and stressed, its there that we must turn to our Father, and let Him take over; to just sit on His lap, and let Him do the dirty work. He told us that whatever we ask of Him, He'll do. So what's holding us back?

Pride: That dirty little monster hiding under our beds; that skeleton in the closet covered in cobwebs. When He gives you opportunities to let go of your pride [such as a car accident, that causes you to have to get rides to get anywhere when you're the type of person that's fairly independent], its those opportunities that help us realize that we have some cleaning up to do. And its in that time that we let God guide us into prioritizing what needs fixing first.

But He won't do it without your permission. So will you open your heart and let Him help you with your spring cleaning?

I know I need to...