Everything Every Morning
It sounded too good to be true, like one of those 800 numbers promising a product to put my life on easy street. Usually a flimsy, questionable sort of dust collector arrives to be mustered out at the garage-sale table alongside all the other quick-fix wares.
But when God promises a solution, He doesn’t exaggerate.
I found it in one of those early-morning encounters with the Lord when I had been running on empty for quite a while. Nothing was going right. Every department head who sat across from my desk presented another insurmountable problem. “The buck stops here” was taking on new significance.
My doctor had frowned as he put down the stethoscope, unwrapped the blood-pressure cuff, and pronounced “stress,” as if by his declaring the symptom, I could regulate the causes.
I knew better. But I thrived on challenges. So I’d roll up my sleeves, lengthen my days, and we’d solve the problems. Trouble was, staff was already working beyond capacity. I plunged ahead, accelerating my pace, the level of pressure rising steadily.
And that’s when I staggered into my study to meet the Lord early one morning. I had spent myself on every avenue of problem solving and had come to the end of my human resources. Sinking to my knees, I finally admitted to Him how unmanageable my life and work had become, and the water was still rising.
God came to my rescue that morning. Out of a little book, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, page 101, came the challenge. Plain and simple: You give Me your life, here’s what I’ll do . . .
“If you will seek the Lord and be converted every day; if you will of your own spiritual choice be free and joyous in God; if with gladsome consent of heart to His gracious call you come wearing the yoke of Christ—the yoke of obedience and service—all your murmurings will be stilled, all your difficulties will be removed, all the perplexing problems that now confront you will be solved.”
Humbled and awed by the immensity of the offer, I whispered, “I accept the deal, Lord. I’m Yours, along with my work and its problems. I’ll quit complaining. You take control.”
That’s the only way to serenity. Let God have your time, your talents, and your treasure, and He hands you back a life full of satisfaction, peace of mind, and well-being. I had tried to conquer and achieve by myself, but there weren’t enough hours in the day. Now I give Him everything every morning.
And the problems? They still stack up like boxcars on a railroad siding. But the divine 800 number lives up to its promise, one day at a time.
“In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).
By Rodney Applegate
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