Devotion – Are you in over your head?

 

 

 

 

 

I grew up thinking that adults had all the answers. My parents knew the answer to all my questions.
When I was in school, the teachers had all the answers.
Someone always knew all the answers.

==>Listen to the Audio Here<==

But, somewhere in the rift, as I became an adult, I discovered that sometimes there just wasn’t an answer. Or perhaps it wasn’t an answer I wanted to hear.

Life’s questions don’t always have answers

• Why do good people have bad things happen?
• Why does a child get cancer?
• Why did that freak accident happen killing a family member?
• Why do moms die with little ones still growing up?
• Why is a dad taken in death from a family that needs him?
• Why do bad people do bad things to kids?

Sometimes there are no answers…..

We are left to do nothing but live by Faith.  Many questions can’t be “answered” and we are left with nothing to do but pray.

I’m reminded of the story of Ezekiel and the river.

In the Bible,  Ezekiel chapter 47, Ezekiel is given a vision of a stream that is flowing from the temple. At first, the stream is just a trickle and he could stand in it. Then the trickle became a stream to his ankles. The farther he went on his journey the more the river rose. From his ankles, to his knees, to his waist until the river was so deep it was over his head.

I’m reminded of a couple of events from my childhood. One is about a river we used to visit many times when we went to visit family up in Arkansas.  The river was crystal clear. I could see all the little minnows and the rocks in the river. There was deep area of the river, but I never went there.  I stayed close to the shore, where it was safe.  Toes in the water enjoying the cool but safely near the shore.

The other event was not in a river, but in a lake.  I was out on a little flat bottom boat with my parents. We weren’t using safe boating tactics, and the short story is that ended up falling head first out of the boat and into a murky Texas lake where you could barely see 3 inches into the water, much less be able to look up and see any landmarks of sky or boat. My dad immediately dove into the water to retrieve me.  I was using my newly learned swimming lessons, but I was paddling the wrong direction. I was swimming myself downward to imminent death.  But, my dad with his strong arms grasped me and hurled me upward and over into the boat.

At that moment in time, I was literally in over my head.

Today, we are all in over our heads. Those of us that realize it are the ones with true personal power.

Gideon felt in over his head when he was asked to lead God’s people.
David felt in over his head.
Moses did.
Esther did too.
And Elijah as well as Jeremiah.
Peter and John as well.
Even Christ felt in over his head when he went to the garden to pray. He was human. You know he wanted to fight it and to live. But, with his Faith and in Faith he cried and prayed “Into your hands I commit my spirit.”
He was admitting that he wasn’t in control and he to trust in The Higher Power of God to take him through the next hours of his life.

Where do we go when we don’t have the answers and we are in over our heads?

I go to God in prayer. When I don’t understand and my spirit cries for answers. I pray. I have to let the strong arms of God grasp me and hurl me up into His light.

Are you in over your head?
Do you feel that you are losing or lost control?
Have your landmarks vanished?
If you have, I encourage you to pray this prayer with me:

Dear Lord,
I’ve walked off the map. I’m in uncharted territory and I’ve lost my way. Things are coming at me and I don’t feel the ground beneath my feet. Please come to me with your strong arms and lift me up over the murkiness into your Light.
Amen

Hugs and feathers from the nest~~()~~

Kim Steadman is the Content Curator and COOP (Chief Online Operating Person) for The Re-Feathered Nest, a place of encouragement for moms entering the Empty Nest Zone who are ready to RePurpose and ReDesign themselves according to God’s purpose for their lives now that the kids have flown the coop. She is the author of the soon to be released book ““My Little Book of Empty Nest Quotes & Wisdom.’ Kim can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheRefeatheredNest and on Google+ at +Kim