Missing Pieces on the Page

By Brenda Black

I anticipated this year to be challenging for a number of reasons. The catalog of pending events, assignments, appointments and duties burgeoned before I ever turned the calendar page. It was filled with hard stuff like surgeries and a root canal; dotted with fun stuff I enjoy. The blank white boxes day after day, I branded with meetings and deadlines. Welcome work. Volunteer tasks. Important people. Then it was gone. One unexpected computer crash later and I'm piecing my agenda back together.

Some events are recurring, predictable and easily recalled while other dates logged far in advance seem vague. Bit by bit, I remember and quickly jot them down before that recollection fades. How dependent I have become on technology is a sign of these modern times and my aging brain. How full my life has become seems to correlate with the easy access of gadgetry. I'm learning more and more that just because it is deftly entered data, doesn't mean it will be as easily accomplished. BUT, it is achievable, doable, possible, attainable. AND it just might be remarkable to trust God more, depend on His strength and see Him assemble what is necessary and beneficial and eliminate what is of lesser worth.

So as I start my day earlier than usual, after staying up late as normal, I am reminded anew that I'm never completely in control of anything tangible...or digital. I have one task over which I have sovereignty: The choice I make to lean on the Lord and trust His provision and supremacy.

Wise Solomon learned it long before me and challenged everyone to follow such a trustworthy King.

“Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God. Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'

“Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him.

“Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come? ” (Ecclesiastes 8:2-7)

Either I look at this word of instruction as gloom and doom or I embrace it as gracious, blissful ignorance. I don't know what waits around the corner. I can't predict the future, I know not how long I have to live and work and love and learn. But I do know the One who has it all under control. The King of Kings!

Though life is busy and inconvenient at times, God is never too busy to care about every scribble I mark on the calendar of my life. He cares. I know this full well. And that is what keeps me sane in the midst of everyday trials. It keeps it all in perspective and helps me realize that nothing temporary is life or death panic worthy. And even life and death are of no concern when the Lord God Himself knows every day ever written for me.

All too often, God is the missing piece. We've alloted Him no time. We've not sought His wisdom nor asked for His help. And when we hit a crisis or crash, we are incapacitated. Your days do not have to be lived that way. The Lord Jesus Christ is waiting to fill your life with the missing peace.