Just One More Thing

This past weekend Jerry and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. Getting away from our cat, dogs, and various a sundry animals, we came home relaxed and refreshed, but not quite ready to surrender back into a routine of the day-to-day. Wanting to eek out just a little more, we decided to end the evening with a wonderful soak in the hot tub, while enjoying the beauty of the night sky. It was a great thought. But it stayed just a great thought because when we pulled open the cover, the temperature of the hot tub was a whooping 87 degrees, rising only by a degree in spite of our best efforts to heat it up. Yikes!

After many unsuccessful attempts to fix the problem, we hung our heads low, pulling the cover over the tepid container, as we heard, playing in our minds, a forlorn rendition of Taps. It’s a stupid, small thing really when compared to world problems and other more urgent, painful life situations that many are facing. But sometimes it seems, that it’s the small things that trip us up the most, landing us face down in the crippling pile of self pity. It’s just one…more…thing…. Rats.

When those small things occur—and they always do, more often than not, I find myself, first, wishing the problem away. I really try, as I say, to have an out-of-body experience—to get away from what is happening in front of me. It’s a waste of time, but all too often, I find myself whining the “oh woe is me” song. It’s a terrible place to end up because one of the worst things about it is that you don’t realize you’re there until you wake up deep knee in the swirl. If you have ever seen Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, there is a moment in the movie where the dogs held in the dog pound, howl the most mournful tune, besetting their woes. It’s akin to the song, Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen. Neither is a place anyone wants to be.

My second line of defense used to be that of a handy man, or woman, in my case. I would jump right in, tool belt on, mental hammer, saw, and screwdriver ready for action, and try to fix my and everyone else’s problems. It’s a terrible thing, when all you’re doing is trying is help, but are sadly seen as a busybody. Thankfully, by God’s grace, I’m moving away from the profession of mending myself, others, and even my hot tub, and in that, finding more free time to be me, the person that God created.

Thirdly, what I am in training to do, more often than not, is to pray first. I’m by no means perfect at this, and sometimes find myself back at whining and fixing, but then I get this gentle nudge, this tender reminder of “Kim, that’s not your job.” I’m starting to realize that God does not author, but allows those painful, “one more thing” times in our lives, to draw us closer to Him so that we can get to know Him better, to see how much He wants to care for us.

People often say, and it is true, that nothing is too big for God, but also nothing is too small for Him either. He delights in even taking care of those tiny “woe is me” moments of life.

Jesus tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything—but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6 TLV

Small, niggling things can really get to us and like the gash in the hull of the Titanic, can make us sink. But we don’t have to live there. That’s one reason why Jesus came—to save us from ourselves.

He delights in us.

With love,
Kimberly Bryant-Palmer
Author of Mr. Zip and The Capital Z
mrzipbooks.com
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