The most important thing

 I went to bed early last night and woke up early today. My mind swam in a swirling ocean of thoughts of things to do. Without hope of coffee anytime soon, I felt a little despondent. Aware of these thoughts but not really affected by them emotionally. We all wake up eventually though, even without coffee. 

Then my thoughts began to take a more pointed timbre, I should have done this or that. Now I'm feeling guilt, anxiety, and shame as I attempt to figure out ways to fix my life. Make no mistake, I can do better in life. I'd wager that everyone could do better too. There was a thought that God floated in my mind, a wonderful scripture verse. "Be still and know that I am the Lord."

What a beautiful picture of God's power! A single fact of God's personhood is the reason for calm stillness. I'm reminded of the storm Jesus calmed with a command. As I thought about who I know God to be and I thought about him being MY Lord. The swirling whirlpool of worries calms to a lake of glass.

Such a verse is so interesting because it doesn't address any of my worries, but it does instantly deflate them. The fear of future financial well-being is something I think about a lot as most do, I have plans and things I'm doing to address that, but there's no guarantee it's going to work out the way I hope. Which is fearful. Especially when my less-than-stellar track record is taken into account. The comfort comes from the fact the Lord doesn't put a caveat on his love for me. It is, unconditional.

That God who walks with you through the hardest times, who's seen you in your worst sin and knows every thought you ever had and still has predestined you to be his very own child anyway. That God says to you and me, "Be still" It's a subtle reminder that we already have won at life. Though I still don't have the guarantee of financials in the future, I have the guarantee that the Lord will be there just like always.

There's a bunch of stuff in life that people have to face and depending on how much coffee you've had, it can be pretty scary. One I'm thing I'm sure of is that the Lord is always there steady and firm, and when he says to me Be still, I'm gonna be still.