Over Our Heads
As long as we’ve owned our home, our backyard has been in serious need of some lawn grading to keep water away from the foundation. So, instead of just hiring this out like a normal person, a couple weekends ago I decided to rent a bobcat and give her a shot myself. Let’s just say I began feeling overwhelmed pretty quickly as I realized that the art of shaping a smooth lawn was something I might not be able to master in a few hours. After beating myself up for a bit, I finally came to the point of surrender and accepted the fact that I needed help. I immediately felt lighter and determined to just enjoy driving the machine around the next day for a bit, even if I didn’t get anything done.
And lo and behold, the following day my neighbor stopped by unexpectedly and gave me just the help I needed. It so happens that he had a lot of experience and was able to give me some helpful pointers. I finished the job, and ended up feeling good about the end result.
How often do we feel “over our heads” in trying to deal with life, and yet fail to come to a point of true surrender? In letting go, we open ourselves up to the limitless help God has for us. Let’s pray.
Prayer of Confession
Father, because of your great mercy towards us in Christ Jesus, we humbly bring a prayer of confession to you now.
You tell us clearly that, unless we renounce all that we have, we cannot be your disciples. Still, we cling to our lives and try to figure things out on our own. We get stuck and yet refuse to humble ourselves under your mighty hand, and so we find ourselves fighting against your strength, rather than experiencing the reality of your power working on our behalf.
We have much to learn as your disciples, and the only way we will make progress is to remove ourselves from the center of our lives. Help us to walk in surrender, that you might get all the glory.
Lord, you are near to us and have promised to give us rest for our souls. Grant that we might trust you more to yield all our burdens before you now as we silently confess our sins.
