"As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I'm totally flexible." I saw this plaque online and know this to be completely true about me. I remember when I was first married and my husband would ask me what I wanted for dinner. I'd say, "Oh, I don't know, you just pick something." Twelve suggestions later, it ended up being my choice. I mean, I'm flexible, but none of those things you just suggested are going to work for me. (Insert tongue-in-cheek emoji here.)
When my babies start crawling and exploring, inevitably they find "forbidden" and dangerous objects that end up on the floor when the bigger ones are careless and forget to keep the "chokers" off the floor. I'm very watchful during this stage before the little ones know not to put these things in their mouths. I know that there is unknown danger all around while my babies are completely unaware. I pry tiny little objects from their grip and they cry as if I just took away their best friend. It was for their own good, but they never see it that way in the moment.
Control. We fight for it with all of our might. Sometimes even as a mature Christian, I find myself grasping to my own will. In my prayers, I have at times begged for the conditions of my life to be more comfortable. Less uncontrollable. More predictable. "God, FIX THIS NOW, " was the tenor of my requests, feeling that it needed to change now and not later! I did not see myself acting like my baby grasping with white knuckles to the thing I wanted, not considering God was doing something I could not see.
Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch woman who rescued more than 800 Jews from the Nazi concentration camps. Though her family was murdered and she was subjected to the most horrific conditions that many did not live through, she trusted God. Her life was a testimony of love and forgiveness. I recently read an interview she had with Dr. James Dobson many years ago. She recalled the time she was taken to the concentration camp and the Nazis were confiscating everyone's personal belongings. Corrie had a Bible that was sure to be taken based on what she was seeing ahead in the line. She said that during unorthodox times you can pray unorthodox prayers. She asked God to send His angels to hide her so that she could pass through with her Bible. Sure enough, they searched the people in front of her and behind her, but they did not search her. She was able to bring her Bible in to the camp and God allowed her to secretly hold Bible Studies in her barrack.
One of Corrie Ten Boom's famous quotes was, "Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open." My babies cry when I pry dangerous objects from their hands. I have cried trying to hold on too tightly to things that, in the end, have no eternal significance.
The Lord has been teaching me to shift my prayers from "God, I need you to (change my circumstance)..." to "God, YOUR Will be done in my life." There are things that He has told me and shown me; There are promises in His Word I know to be true, but have yet to manifest in my life. While I can grow weary and impatient at times, I am better off being pliable and trusting Him with contentment.
God does not operate on my schedule. He doesn't care so much when things are not exactly the way I want them. His plan is greater than mine. HIS grip on my life is tighter than I can ever hold on to anything. I thank GOD Almighty for His amazing Love and omniscient guiding, even when I can't see and don't understand.
Corrie Ten Boom also said, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." None of us know what is ahead. But God Almighty who created the heavens and the earth, sees all, knows all and hears our prayers even when we don't know what to pray.
Jesus taught us to pray like this:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:10-13, ESV. (Emphasis added)
"Your Kingdom come, Your will be done." As Jesus taught, He prayed this way before He went to the cross, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done" (Luke 22:42).
Wow. Jesus prayed for God's will to be done and was lead to the Cross to suffer and die. We will not escape suffering. Our lives will not be exactly the way we want them. Sometimes we will grieve, struggle and fight to get breakthrough. And yet, in Christ we have victory! We can be content as we wait on the Lord, knowing His plan is perfect. As Paul said in Philippians,
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:11-13
Being content in all circumstances may seem like a tall order. You mean, when I'm going through the CRAZY things I'm going through? Be content in that? Yes. Whatever "THAT" is for you. Trust God. Walk with Him. Let Him lead you and count the blessings in your life. Live Righteously and do not be moved by the circumstances. Pray for His will to be done in your life. Then, be totally flexible in the Hands of the One who holds your future in His.