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    I Can't Fix It but I Know Who Can
    I Can't Fix It but I Know Who Can
    I Can't Fix It but I Know Who Can
    Ebook144 pages1 hour

    I Can't Fix It but I Know Who Can

    By Sandra Still

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    About this ebook

    Life""living""is a problem, and we just can't fix it. We can't control it. We can't perfectly understand it. The past is often a puzzle. The present is a challenge. And we can't with certainty plan for the future, as the future simply has too many what-ifs, unknowns, and variables. The Problem, with a capital P, is life, plain and simple. Illness, death, loneliness, divorce, children who break our hearts, friends and family from whom we are alienated. Career challenges""or a lack of career in the face of job loss. Politics, wars, natural disasters, the list of earthly woes is endless. We can't fix them, but I know who can. This book looks at forty-nine different situations I have experienced either firsthand or through the lives of friends and relatives. They are meditations, a word which in Hebrew doesn't necessarily mean quiet contemplation. Rather, the root word for meditate, hagah, often meant "to moan, utter aloud, muse, and just plain mutter"; "to roar"; "to growl"; "to speak out"; or in short, oftentimes "pure lamentation and calling out to God." Forty-nine reflections on woes and finding God's love within them. The fiftieth entry puts the emphasis on Jubilee. In the Old Testament, guidelines for the newly established Jewish nation directed that every fiftieth year was a time for rest, renewal, and celebration. And so the fiftieth meditation does just that""celebrates the Lord's goodness and provision for his people. We of the New Covenant, the Church, can face life's trials and hardships knowing that one of these days Jesus's promise, "I am making everything new" (Revelation 21:5), will come to pass. In Christ's kingdom, there will be jubilee. And so let us begin the journey of meditating on life's challenges, knowing that we can't fix it but focusing always on the One who can.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChristian Faith Publishing, Inc.
    Release dateJan 10, 2019
    ISBN9781643499116
    I Can't Fix It but I Know Who Can

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      Book preview

      I Can't Fix It but I Know Who Can - Sandra Still

      To my dear friends Kenneth and Joan Pressey, two of the most courageous, optimistic, and inspiring people I have ever met. Their unwavering faith in God has been an example to many.

      Introduction

      The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

      —Psalm 27:1

      Life—living—is a problem, and we just can’t fix it. We can’t control it. We can’t perfectly understand it. The past is often a puzzle. The present is a challenge. And we can’t with certainty plan for the future, as the future simply has too many what-ifs, unknowns, and variables. Further, when we do look at our life options, why is it we often focus on the bad, difficult, horrible possible outcomes? In my experience, I rarely awaken at 3:00 a.m. filled with awe and excitement over all the possible good, positive, upbeat outcomes that may lie ahead. (Ah, I assume the evil one is actively at work in this area.)

      The Problem, with a capital P, is life, plain and simple. Illness, death, loneliness, divorce, children who break our hearts, friends and family from whom we are alienated. So many issues! Career challenges—or a lack of career in the face of job loss. Politics, wars, natural disasters, the list of earthly woes is endless. We can’t fix them, but I know who can.

      This book looks at forty-nine different situations I have experienced either firsthand or through the lives of friends and relatives. They are meditations, a word which in Hebrew doesn’t necessarily mean quiet contemplation. Rather, the root word for meditate, hagah, often meant to moan, utter aloud, muse, and just plain mutter; to roar; to growl; to speak out; or in short, oftentimes pure lamentation and calling out to God. Forty-nine reflections on woes and finding God’s love within them. As you read these musings, take time to ponder the closing questions for each entry. All of them may not personally apply, but all will offer ideas to consider. Also pray the suggested short prayer or, better yet, form your own prayer thoughts and express your own groanings and thanksgivings to the Lord.

      The fiftieth entry is different. It puts the emphasis on Jubilee. In the Old Testament, guidelines for the newly established Jewish nation directed that every fiftieth year was a time for rest, renewal, and celebration. And so the fiftieth meditation does just that—celebrates the Lord’s goodness and provision for his people. We of the New Covenant, the Church, can face life’s trials and hardships knowing that one of these days Jesus’s promise, I am making everything new (Revelation 21:5), will come to pass. In Christ’s kingdom, there will be jubilee. No weeping, no sadness, no illness, no aging and decline, no death. There will be joy as we live in the presence of God himself. Pure, unfettered, limitless, abundant joy.

      And so let us begin the journey of meditating on life’s challenges, knowing that we can’t fix it but focusing always on the One who can.

      Section 1

      Be Still

      Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

      —Psalm 46:10

      A Quiet Mind

      Hope

      Know Thyself

      Which Way Should I Go?

      Press Pause

      Weary

      Aging—’Tis a Challenge

      Stop Fighting

      A Quiet Mind

      You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

      —Isaiah 26:3

      Iam tired, Lord. And not because things aren’t going well. Actually, they are going well overall, excepting a few blips here and there. It just seems I’ve been striving so to serve you, and now my reserves are gone. I’m sitting at the lake on this Sunday morning instead of being in church, because I just can’t face being in a crowd of people. I don’t want to hear about one more person’s needs. It’s not that I don’t care! Actually, I think I care too much. The prayer list grows relentlessly, and I care !

      But … I can’t fix any of it. A sense of powerlessness engulfs me. Pray. Just pray? What good does that seem to do? Okay, then, along with prayer, I need to act. So I do—endlessly seeking to do more, more, more. And now I am really, really tired. Besides taking energy, actions also, for the most part, don’t seem to achieve much. So I feel like I’m basically accomplishing nothing by praying and doing. What’s left?

      Then I read Isaiah 26:3. God will keep me in perfect peace if I trust in him. Uh, oh … there it is. I don’t really trust God. I find it difficult to put people and problems totally in God’s hands, with the trust that he will work all things together for good to those who love him. The realization comes: my anxiety, tiredness, and frustration at root come from pride.

      What is that feeling of I must stay involved with a person distressing my soul if they are to turn to God but pride. Me—I am essential to success. Right? No, I don’t think so. I’m praying for them but also feeling I must do something! Here, Lord, I’ll help you lest things go wrong …

      Is my worry and fretting essential for the physical healing of those on my prayer list? Probably not. Yet to pray for them and then, in joy, go on with the day’s tasks the Lord has provided for me seems, well, coldhearted. Now is that way of thinking not the opposite of God’s instructions to cast my cares on him and to then walk in peace?

      Eliminating this problem will take prayer and practice, for fretting, worrying, and second-guessing in the name of the Lord has obviously become a deeply ingrained habit. Also, prayers of repentance at my prideful attitude apparently need to be part of my daily routine for a while. And instead of wearing myself down with frenzy and fretting, perhaps using that energy to joyfully take flowers to someone homebound or to quietly visit a friend better serves.

      Why, what an eye-opener! There are peacefully done acts of concern I can do, instead of worrying, rushing frantically, and fuming over a grand solution; so let me be about them with a sense of trusting God, not one of breakneck, exhausting agitation. Instead of weariness of spirit, Lord, grant me your peace. Let me turn from an introspective focus on myself to outward focus on prayer and then thoughtful quiet action. It sounds like a plan, because in my heart of hearts, I know I can’t fix it, but I know who can.

      Reflection

      Make a list of things you do for the Lord each week. Now prayerfully analyze your list. Ask God if this activity is truly his will for you.

      Conversely, is your list lacking in acts of service? Be in prayer that the Lord will open doors of opportunity for you to better serve him.

      Prayer thought: Dear Lord, show me the way you wish to use me in your service at this stage and time of my life. Amen.

      Hope

      In His great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

      —1 Peter 1:3

      She sat contentedly across from me in the sun, comfortable on the picnic table bench. The empty fast-food paper bag that had held hamburgers and fries now was stuffed with empty wrappers and cups destined for the trash can.

      It’s so beautiful here. She sighed. I didn’t know there was such a lovely spot so near my house. Overwhelmed, I gently patted my mom’s hands as they rested on the picnic table.

      I know, Mom. Isn’t the lake peaceful? She smiled at me, her eyes lit with happiness. "Ah, Mom. I have been visiting you for almost a week, and every afternoon, you and I have come here. My childhood days were filled with many picnics enjoyed in this same spot with you, up here on this hill. My brothers, sisters, and I walked the lake’s shores with you watching over us. It’s always been your favorite spot.

      "Now, each time I bring you here, it is a new spot, a new adventure for you. Ah, Mom—dementia is slowly taking your mind, your memories, and my heart. And yet there is such happiness here for you because, each time we come, it is like the first time. Every day all things are special and new through your eyes. Being with you, doing things with you, helps me to see the ordinary through your childlike viewpoint. That is a

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