Grounded in Mobile by Lisa Burkhardt Worley
I hate letting people down and desire to honor commitments. James 5:12 says, “…let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation” (ESV)
But some things are simply out of our control.
After my husband Jeff and I spent a wonderful few days in Fair Hope, Alabama celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary, it was time for us to return home. I had a speaking engagement at a live event the next day at lunch, so it was important to get back.
However, a massive storm system hovered over Alabama spawning destructive tornadoes across the state. It was not safe for our 5:00 p.m. flight back to Texas to depart. After countless delays, the crew eventually timed out and the flight was canceled—rescheduled for 7:30 a.m. the next morning.
I began to calculate how I would still make it to my speaking engagement. Okay, once arriving at DFW, we can retrieve our bags, and my husband can drive me to the location, and I can still speak. But when the 7:30 a.m. flight was also cancelled, I knew it was over. I could not honor my commitment.
So the question at that point was: “Do I continue to fret about what I cannot control or do I let it go?”
That may be a question for all of us. What situation is out of control in your life? Do you dwell on it 24/7 or do you release it to God?
In my case, as sad as I was about missing the luncheon, I had to let it go, and I had to trust God. I literally thought, I do not understand why this happened, but I trust you. I thought that maybe there was a divine appointment at the airport or an opportunity to share the Gospel with someone. Nothing like that happened, but in those many hours at the airport (it took us about 35 hours to get home) I was able to complete my schoolwork, so that was a positive.
When life presents something we cannot control, it’s important to turn it over to God because as Acts 17:28 says, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” Our heavenly Father may be wanting to see if we trust Him even when a scenario doesn’t make sense.