Summer Giraffe // Control

   Good Saturday to you folks! Today I would like to introduce you to the "summer giraffe" (as a child I know called it), and share a devotional. There's also a new poll on the sidebar to vote in. Scroll on, if you please. :)

   Most of the time I don't wear fashion trends, but enjoy engaging in some of them. While I didn't choose this pink giraffe top out for myself, I'm glad to have it; something about a well-played animal graphic hits the spot. On a fine August day last week I wore this vibrant top with capris, yellow sandals, a mint tank, and mint toenail polish! It made for quite a colorful outfit that proved just right for a casual summer day. 

Outfit Details: T-shirt ~ Thrifted; Pants ~ Thrifted; Tank ~ Walmart; Sandals ~ Kohls

   Imagine for a moment that you are ten years old again, not old enough to drive, but old enough to have reasonable fears. You are in a car being driven by someone you trust, perhaps your dad. The car is heading up a rough and curvy mountain road. On one side is a drop-off and on the other a cliff just waiting for a rock-slide. Soon, the road narrows, and suddenly another car zips around the curve and the road looks like it won't hold two vehicles. Seized by fear, you reach over and grab the steering wheel...

   Hold on. What good would it do to grab the wheel from a trusted driver when you have no idea how to drive? It seems silly, but all to often this kind of reaction comes naturally to us. I don't mean that it happens when we are really in a car, but it does in our spiritual walk. Though not always a conscious thought, we too easily try to take control.

   We get stressed with all we have to do and try to make it work out just so, while our stomach twists and turns. We struggle with sin and get soul-weary of the burden it puts on us. Trials swirl around us and we are determined to be strong in the midst of the storm. Our perfectly laid plans for the day go awry from unforeseen circumstances and we get angry. Each time our hands are gripping the steering wheel. "I need to fix this...I need to do this...why is this so hard?"

   And yet our driver knows exactly what He is doing. We as Christians are God's children, and God is like our driver. He never makes a mistake or dozes off on the road and He knows just what is coming around the corner. However, when the road stops being smooth and predictable, we get nervous and grab the steering wheel from Him. We may or may not say "God, I don't think you have a handle on this, so I'll take over for a while", or "Lord, I'm really busy today and don't have time for these 'distractions', so I'm going to pass them up", but we do display these attitudes.

   I don't say this from the perspective of someone who has absolutely learned to give things to God's control. Instead, I say this as someone who is finally realizing how many ways we as Christians try to take control without even realizing it. How silly it seems from this perspective that we think we can do a better job than the all-powerful God. I challenge you and myself today to realize in what ways we are "taking the wheel" from the Lord. How silly it is to do so; Let us instead recognize how much better it is to rest, knowing that He is in the driver's seat.

You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

Psalm 139:3-5