Another dawn, another breakfast mystery. What will I feed my family today? I opened the freezer, and a few stray peas rolled around in the cavernous space. The cupboards held the same meager offerings as the day before—oatmeal and popping corn. Oatmeal it is!
Despondency threatened to paralyze me as I stirred the grey mush at the stove. For months, I had attempted to encourage my husband through his fruitless search for employment. In addition to mothering our three little ones, I did everything in my power to try to improve our circumstances—submitting resumes to any restaurant and retailer within walking distance, mastering meal-planning with what we had on hand, learning to fix zippers and sew on buttons, and collecting free items from neighborhood garage sales for birthday and Christmas gifts. Despite selling household items to make ends meet, not a dollar remained for ongoing needs.
We were like the crew of a sinking ship, frantically bailing water, manning the sails, and throwing goods overboard. Yet our efforts were futile.
Our Bibles lay open beside us on the couch as my husband and I quietly discussed our situation later that morning. For the umpteenth time, we searched for more ways to reduce expenses and earn a few bucks. Eventually, we determined that we had done everything that was in our power to do; we simply had to wait on the Lord to provide.
I turned back to my Bible, which lay open to Psalm 46, and read the verse I had highlighted years earlier:
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
The idea of stillness appeals to us because we long for peace in the storms of life—the busyness of our day-to-day and the trials and tribulations that inevitably throw us off course. So, when we read Psalm 46:10, we envision picturesque quiet times with glowing candles and cozy armchairs, or pastoral scenes of lush meadows and gently trickling streams.
But that morning, soaked in stress, stillness seemed impossible.
I read “Be still,” and I thought, “But how?”
Digging deeper through a simple word study, I discovered that this phrase in the original language may be better translated as “Let your hands drop.” In other words, “stop grasping for control” or “cease striving.”
It’s one thing to take responsibility for what’s entrusted to you. It’s another thing to insert yourself as the captain of someone else’s ship.
I realized I had been trying to do just that—control something I had no control over.
But relinquishing the helm back to the true Captain meant letting go and trusting him, even if waves continued thrashing and threatening to sink us. My only hope was to keep my eyes on the One who is truly in charge and capable of handling anything, the One for whom nothing is impossible.1
He is God, and I am not. What a relief!
Surrounded by the tempest of piling bills, empty wallets, bare cupboards, and no job prospects, I looked above it all to Jesus, and the “peace that surpasses all understanding” covered me, guarding my heart and mind like a tear-proof tarpaulin under the crashing waves.2
We survived that storm of unemployment over a decade ago, and Psalm 46:10 has served as an anchor for my soul through many storms since.
Knowing that he is God, our faithful help, protector, and provider, and the sovereign Lord over all, loosens our grip on the wheel, so we can “let our hands drop” and experience the stillness we long for, even as the storm still rages.
Are you caught in a storm today? Maybe you’re struggling with health issues that seem to have no clear solution, relational tension you can’t seem to resolve, or some other overwhelming situation.
Take some time today to focus on who God is, to remind yourself of his power and promises. Ask him to show you if there’s something else for you to do, and if not, to help you let go of control.
God’s got this, and he’s trustworthy.
“I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore” (Psalm 121 ESV).
