Just So - The One Year Devotions for Women
Just So
The LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
Proverbs 2:6-7
It’s easy to think that peace comes from having everything just so. A clean house. Clean children. Everything and everyone in their proper place. Consider a couple of postings on a blog entitled I Am Neurotic:
Every file, folder, song, picture, etc., must be alphabetized and spelled correctly before I can open the file. If I find them uncorrected I will spend the rest of my free time assorting and respelling every file in the computer’s hard drive.a
Ever since I started school at 5 years old I have had an obsession with the teacher erasing the chalkboard entirely. Most would rub the eraser around but leave stray lines and continue writing. I would stare at the stray lines and it would drive me crazy the remainder of the class. I would get hot and get headaches. I am 22 years old and in college and nothing has changed.b
If you know anyone who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, you know that his or her life is far from peaceful. But what does any of this have to do with the ordinary, run-of-the-mill perfectionist? Only this—that our search for peace will never bear fruit if we insist on trying to control all the unruly bits and pieces of our lives.
If you are frustrated because of all the things you can’t control, try bringing them one by one into the presence of the Lord. Ask him to help you sort through the pile, deciding which ones to let go and which ones to hold on to. He can give you wisdom and grace to deal with the things in your life that are threatening your peace.
Father, help me to let go of things I cannot possibly control. Give me wisdom about the situations you want me to be involved with, and show me how to deal with them in your peace.
a “Musical Order,” I Am Neurotic (blog), June 6, 2008, http://iamneurotic.com/2008/06/06/musical-order.
b “Clean Chalkboard = Sane Students,” I Am Neurotic (blog), April 19, 2011, http://iamneurotic.com/2008/06/18/clean-chalk-board-sane-students.
