With Open Hands

(A prayer by Henri Nouwen, from With Open Hands)

Dear God, I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!
Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?
Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?
Please help me to gradually open my hands
and to discover that I am not what I own,
but what you want to give me.
And what you want to give me is love,
unconditional, everlasting love.
Amen.

For God and Country: God Is in Control

As I am dashing around getting ready for CH-BOLC next week, I was reminded last night that it is a good thing that God is in control. I admit that I stopped in place for a minute and thought about that.

I have been running around getting all the things I need to take, making sure my wife and kiddo have support they need, and ordering those last minute uniforms. It would be easy to feel overwhelmed and on top of already being anxious, it would be easy to simply flail and crash.

Then I was reminded that God is in control. I can scramble and run around and almost panic or I can realize that God has everything under control – even if I feel that I do not have things in control. I am reminded of Psalm 46:1:

Be still and know I am God.

That is great advice. Sometimes I just need to be still and let things up to God and not worry about them. I once read a different translation of this verse which said:

Be still and know I am God – and you are not.

Even better advice to consider. Too often, we try to be in complete control and act as if we are God and we are not. We are not in control and we are not in charge. I need to remember this in the coming weeks (and beyond) as I scramble and feel overwhelmed.

Of course, we can also take this to an extreme and just sit back and do nothing because God is in control. I don’t think that is the solution. I believe we need to be participants in God’s plan but realize that we need to follow the plan and not make it. I am on this journey because it is God’s plan. If I was in charge…well that would be something altogether different.

Thanks, Pastor Ray.

Just my thoughts this morning.