As I sit here this early morning watching the sky turn from black to grey and now taking on shades of blue, I wait for the sun. I can hear the birds chirping with all their might. I love the sound. It’s quiet. It’s simple.
There’s something to be said about simplicity. I tend to make things way too complicated and miss the beauty that’s found in simplicity.
Last night I was sitting at my daughter’s softball game. I love to watch her play because she loves to play. She’s only nine so she’s still learning the game. She plays with all she’s got but she doesn’t lose the joy in it all. I watch her in the field sometimes dancing to a song in her head or studying ants on the ground. I have to call out and remind her to focus but she seems to always be taking in the beauty of life. I could learn from her.
PINIMAGE(Sophie far right)
She ran up to me between innings and I thought it would be a perfect time to go over the fundamentals of batting (Of course I did). The conversation went something like this:
ME: Sophie, now remember what you’ve learned about batting. What do you NOT want to do when you get up to bat?
S: Watch to see where the ball goes when I hit it.
ME: Well, yeah, but what else?
S: Don’t lift my head.
ME: Okay, yes, but what else?
S: Don’t not swing all the way through.
ME: Wait, don’t…not…swing…don’t…NOT? Is that right? (Does a double negative make a positive?)
I began confusing myself.
ME: Wait, I want Sophie to swing all the way through so ‘don’t not’…that means do swing all the way through…right?
By the look on her face I lost her somewhere early in my ramblings.
She piped up and said, “Just hit the ball.”
And that was that.
As she walked away, I laughed with some friends about how difficult I had just made that conversation. Why in the world did I feel the need to complicate things and not just go through the fundamentals that she’d been learning? Why couldn’t I keep things simple.
I complicate a lot of things. I think we all do. Sophie just sees life with a lot more simplicity.
This morning, I was reading in my quiet time about God’s splendor and how He loves beauty. He loves when His glory and beauty are on display in our lives. It creates a simplicity in us.
It’s just that way with God, you know.
God loves you. It’s that simple.
God wants you to trust Him.
He wants to reveal His power in your life.
He wants to redeem your complicated story.
He wants to express to you His extravagant generosity.
What if you just trust Him?
What if you just let Him in to your complicated story?
It’s right about now that you might be saying, “But Tammy! It’s not that simple!”
For us? No, it’s NOT that simple.
For God? That’s another story!
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. 1 Chronicles 29:11
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save… Zephaniah 3:17
It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. Jeremiah 10:12
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17
Maybe you’re saying…
God, I can’t not be in control.
God, I can’t not question that You are even there.
God, I can’t not doubt that You care about me and want to help me.
God, I can’t not worry that it’s up to me to unravel all the painful knots of my complicated story.
In times when we need God most, we run from Him. We make things complicated.
Psalm 9:9-10 says, “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you. For you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”
What if He really meant what He said?
What if He has a glorious plan and CAN make beauty from ashes?
What could it hurt to simply trust in Him?
Why don’t you give God a try?
Why don’t you surrender your complicated story to Him?
And, my friend, I promise, He won’t fail you. It’s that simple.
Todd - Awesome Tammy on Tuesday!! God does truly want to reveal his power through our lives!!!!!