YIELD!

Thinking about our life is what we do, it is natural.   We think about our future and make plans. We assess the progress we are making towards our aspirations and consider the adjustments we need to make.  We think about what could go wrong and how we can avoid it.  We take those thoughts and nurture them, ruminate over them.  The cycle of thoughts often leads to anxiety.  We subconsciously evaluate our lives based on the reactions of those around us.  Some people’s reactions magnify the anxiety.  This anxiety is bred from our thoughts.  We have taken these thoughts and the anxiety.  Now the anxiety is unproductive and irrelevant because this life we are worrying about isn’t even ours.  God is our Source and Sustainer.  It is God who works through us.  It is our Divine Creator who determines our purpose and who brings that purpose to fulfillment. 

Our part is to yield to God!!  And though doing so may be hard, it isn’t as hard as it seems.  When we really think about our past, we realize that God has been causing things to work out in our favor without following our plans.  And this awakening brings satisfaction and joy!   It is not our worrying that has made the difference, it has been God’s gracious work on our behalf!  We are much better off dismissing these thoughts and yield to the Creator and Sustainer of what we have come to call our lives. 

This matters because we have the tendency to spend a lot of energy and time worrying about what we should do and how we should handle things in our lives.  The world around us has become so complex that worrying about all the things that may affect us or that may go wrong can be debilitating.  This is especially true when you consider that we may not truly know what’s best for us.  Even when someone navigates the complex terrain of this world to get where they wanted to go, they often discover it is not at all what they thought it would be.  But yielding to the plans and purposes of our Creator promises the satisfaction of arriving at exactly where we were made to be. 

So, let’s pledge to push back on our tendency to try and control what happens in our lives.  We cannot help thinking about our life, but we can refuse to take those thoughts. Let’s pledge to yield those thoughts by presenting them to God, who is all-knowing and all-powerful.   When I feel the least bit anxious, I will remind myself that I am but a steward of God’s life within.  And the Owner of this life will maintain it. 

*Adapted from the meditation, “Take No Thought for Your Life” by Howard Thurman in the book, Meditations of the Heart. (1953) Boston: Beacon Press.

Copyright (c) 2023 by Ellery H. Hunter

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