I have a terrible habit of making things up. I’m not talking about lying. I’m talking about making things up in my mind. You know what I mean. Someone doesn’t smile as big at you, so that must mean that you smell or you said something to offend them. You’ve been called to a meeting, not told what it’s about, and so you quietly step into your hand basket and assume you know exactly where it’s going. It’s a habit many of us possess. I’ve met others, so I know I’m not the only person with a tendency to write stories in my mind.Last night, I found myself writing a mind-novel, in which I ran from scenario to scenario and jumped from conclusion to conclusion. It was exhausting, draining, completely ridiculous. So, this morning, I decided to see what God says about it. Through a not-so-direct path, I found myself in the book of Jeremiah, strangely enough, reading the exact same passage I read earlier this week but from a different perspective:
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
– Jeremiah 17:7-8
Wow. If I’m any remnant of a tree, it certainly isn’t this one. Worrying, making things up, jumping to conclusions…that’s not trusting in my God. Letting go, trusting HIM to work things out as HE would have them…I’ve been there before and it saddens me that I stepped away, even if briefly. So, my prayer today was to let go again. I found a verse that I keep marked. Search me God, know my heart. I stand in awe of you and I’m letting go…again. You’ve got my full attention and the story is Yours to write.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” – Psalm 139: 23-24
