And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered–Matthew 10:30
It’s funny that when my students ask me how to start an essay, I have no trouble coaching them in the right direction. When I get stumped, however, I can’t seem to get past my writer’s block half the time. Ironically, that is how I started this post after being stumped for a while. I always have something to say–I just don’t know if it’s always worth saying. I understand what the outspoken Elizabeth Bennet meant when she said to the taciturn Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, “We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room.” Sometimes powerful language is simple, not amazing.
I prayed that God would just give me a day to rest.
It was a damp, dark Friday morning a few years ago. I was disappointed to realize that I’d woken up earlier than usual. This was during an era in my life when I still hadn’t learned to prioritize opportunities and had backed myself into a corner of taking on way too much. After several weeks of just daily exhaustion, mental, emotional, and physical, I felt like I literally could not get out of bed. Though it was completely out of character for me, I began to cry, not sobbing, but I felt the tears trailing from the corners of my eyes and soaking the pillow. I prayed that God would just give me a day to rest. I longed for a snow day, but it was only October 1st. After a few minutes, the phone rang, which was extremely strange because of how early it was. Again, I thought of a snow day, but I could hear the rain pounding on the roof. I lifted the receiver (yes, I still had a landline), and I listened to the recorded voice on the other end say that school was cancelled. I dropped the phone. I thought I was either dreaming or someone was pranking an unsuspecting teacher. Upon flicking on the TV, however, the message was confirmed as I saw my school’s name scrolling alone across the bottom of the screen. And then, there it was–the reason. A power outage. It had been raining hard all night and apparently some pooling water had caused a significant problem at the substation near the school that was going to take several hours to address. I began to sob, albeit a happy sob, and repeated, “Thank You, God! Thank You! Thank You!” I turned off the TV and laid back onto the pillow and slept the day away.
Sometimes it’s that simple.
Two days later, I shared at our little church how God had shut down a power grid to give me exactly what I needed in the moment I needed it. He had even woken me up early to share the moment of revelation. He knows who I am and what I need, even when I don’t have a clue. Sometimes it’s that simple. In the overcomplications of life, it’s good to have a reminder once in a while that I’m not in control, but the One Who is, knows what He’s doing.