Читать книгу Letting Go - Linda Estes - Страница 18

14…PICNICS

Good morning! As I was covering up this morning with one of my Boyd’s Bears blankets, I read what it said on this particular blanket. “Life is a Picnic.” My initial thought after reading that was that life is not always a picnic. But as I’ve sat here and thought about it for a bit, I think that saying is true. Walk through a picnic with me. When I think of a picnic I think of three main things: blue skies, good food, and time to relax. Try to picture this picnic in your head. It’s a beautiful sunny day and you’ve taken a blanket and spread it out underneath the shade tree and you pull out your food to have a nice little meal. You just want to kick back and spend some time with the person that you’re with and just relax. Then you notice that ants are trying to eat your food and you spend time shooing them away, trying to position your food so they can’t get to it. But they persist, and you find yourself not as relaxed because you’re constantly fighting them. And then the wind picks up and out of the blue it starts thundering and next thing you know it’s raining on your picnic.

Isn’t that how life is? As we try to feed ourselves with godly things, there are always things that seem to pester us, even when we’re trying to relax. And just when you think you can take a deep breath and exhale because life has settled down for you, another storm hits out of the blue. In Philippians 4:11-12, Paul tells us that he has learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself in and we can find that contentment, too. No, that doesn’t mean we’re going to enjoy those pesky ants and the different storms of life, but in the middle of those times, we can be satisfied that God is in control and up to something good in the midst of our troubles. And that’s when we realize what verse 13 tells us. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Here’s to always making sure that we invite God to our picnics!

Lord, please help me learn to be content in whatever situation arises. With You by my side, I can do anything. Amen.