Diane’s weekend had started out well enough. She’d finished most of her homework during homeroom, and all she had left was an essay on the French Revolution. When she got home, she bit her lip, thinking. Should she call up a friend, or start on the essay?
It wasn’t like she didn’t have plenty of time.
She’d start the next day.
Late Saturday morning, Diane crawled out of bed, exhausted. She’d spent the night before surfing the web, staying up way past midnight. Her head ached, her neck cramped, and her eyes burned.
It didn’t help that her younger siblings were so loud.
She really wasn’t in the mood to write an essay, but she knew that she really didn’t have a choice.
Reluctantly, she got out her notes.
“Diane! Play with us!”
“No.”
“Please?”
“NO.”
“Pretty, pretty, please?”
“NO!”
“Honey, don’t yell at your sisters.”
Sometimes, having nine-year old, hyperactive twin sisters was a real pain.
After lunch, she felt a little better, and finally started the essay.
However, as soon as she turned on her computer, the phone rang.
Twenty minutes later, she finally got rid of the persistent salesman and returned to her desk.
A box was popped up on her computer screen.
GreenBean1: Hey, you there? You’ve got to check out my Facebook page! I just posted this awesome video! BB
She hesitated, but really, really quick look wouldn’t hurt
She watched the video.
And updated her Facebook page.
Checked her mail.
Ate dinner.
And promptly forgot she had a paper due.
It wasn’t until she noticed the papers scattered over the floor that she remembered.
The fact that the twins chose that exact time to barge in yelling, “Mom says to go to sleep at this minute or you’re grounded forever and ever and ever and ever!” did not sweeten her mood.
Sunday was filled with church, and she left service desperate to get home and start working.
It turned out that her parents had a meeting that would last until three.
And they wouldn’t take her home.
Diane almost blew up at her parents right then and there, but she didn’t want to risk someone she knew overhearing. Instead, she stewed for the entire hour and a half, furious and bored out of her mind. When her parents were finally finished with their meeting, Diana’s voice was cold as she asked if they could please leave.
They left, the atmosphere so thick it was almost touchable, and Diane stalked into the house. She’d barely gathered all her materials and settled herself when there came a call from her mom.
“Diane! Your clothes have been sitting out here for days! Come down and put them away!”
She blew up.
The next few hours were not pleasant. Diane yelled, reasoned, and cried, but it accomplished nothing. Her mom, after hearing the reason Diane was so touchy, simply pointed out that if she hadn’t procrastinated, she wouldn’t be so irritable, and if she hadn’t been so irritable, she wouldn’t be in trouble.
So there she was, sitting at her desk. Her eyes were still sore from crying and the blank computer screen only added to her frustration. She had a three page essay to complete before the next morning, and she hadn’t even started.
Her relationships with her parents were still tense, and after Diane’s explosion she was banned from the phone for a week.
“Diane, Mom says that you better be working on your paper!”
Life stunk.
*************
Have you ever felt like Diane?
Real life is tough.
Whether you’re struggling with friends, family, or school, the fact remains: you have a problem!
Sometimes, problems can seem like quicksand—no matter how much you struggle, every move only seems to make you sink faster.
It doesn’t help that during these times we feel like jerks and act like time bombs.
Have you ever had a day when nothing pleased you? A day when everything in the universe seemed intent on annoying you? Its days like these that you want to curl up somewhere and hope your problems vanish. The problem is, they don’t, and that only increases your frustration.
Have you ever noticed that these days only happen when you try to handle the problem alone?
You forgot, didn’t you? You have help! You aren’t alone.
Before you even acknowledged your struggles, God was already planning to help you.
All you have to do is ask, and then trust.
Seems too good to be true?
Listen to this: For we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again. (2 Corinthians 1:8b-10a)
It’s strange how often we rely on ourselves when it comes to tough situation. We’re like the Little Engine that Could, puffing, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,” but unlike him, we really can’t.
We’re human.
Flawed.
Imperfect.
And consequently, we can’t always help ourselves.
What’s keeping you from asking God for help?
Is it pride?
Do you balk at the idea of asking for help? Do you think you can do it alone?
Or maybe it’s inferiority.
You think, “God has world peace to worry about, He doesn’t have time to help me.”
Whatever the reason, understand this.
God loves you.
Simple, isn’t it?
A father will not abandon his child simply because he needs to do something more important.
Haven’t you ever seen your parents put off a phone call because you desperately needed help with homework?
The love of a parent is strong, but the love God has for you is infinitely stronger.
God promises to help us in our troubles.
He knows the problems in your life NOW, and He knew them before he created the Earth.
He knows how to help you.
Now all you have to do is ask.
**************
Diane sat at her desk, miserable, staring at the computer screen in front of her. Usually, essays were a piece of cake, but despite having worked for two hours straight, all she had were two paragraphs of half-decent writing.
“I can’t do this.”
Diane wasn’t sure when she realized it, but she knew that it was true. There was no way she’d be able to write an essay on her own strength.
Her own strength.
The words struck a chord in her memory, and Diane straightened as that morning’s sermon flashed through her mind.
“God loves you, and He’s always ready to help you. All you have to do is ask.”
Ask.
Suddenly, she felt like a complete idiot.
An idiot for not remembering to pray earlier.
And an even bigger idiot for feeling so awkward now.
Diane bowed her head.
Um, God? I really can’t do this. Please, help me get through tonight.
Amen.
It was a short prayer, a simple one.
But suddenly, Diane felt much better.
Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she resumed typing.
Alone, she was nothing.
With God on her side—well, that was another story.
I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 (ASV)
No comments:
Post a Comment