He'll Take Care of The Rest

I haven't blogged for awhile but life has been super busy in recent weeks. Really you could describe my job in one word:
S T R E S S!

Every Fall we gear up to start another new year for our Bible Study or as others would call it Sunday School and all of our other ministries. During this time of year we usually are knowledgeable of a little bit of turnover but this year we had a bit more last minute step downs than I had expected many of which were for health and family reasons. And when you have these situations you cannot anticipate them. So for me this means I have to become a heavy duty recruiter and trainer and make it happen in a relatively short period of time. And I am so thankful that I have a wonderful helper who takes on a great portion of calling and helping me with the recruiting part. She does such a great job of calling people for me. When you have more people helping you it sure does lighten that load.

I admit at first whenever things like this happen I am good, I am praying, watching and waiting, walking with Jesus, and listening. But as time gets nearer to deadlines and I am looking at the empty teacher spots I am always amazed at my descent into self-sufficiency. It is so subtle. However things start happening to me physically I will start having bouts with migraines, sleeplessness, and tension. And for all of my fitness conscious friends, yes I do still take time to eat healthy and also exercise. But stress was still was taking its toll.

Thankfully God sent me a reality check a few weeks back through a wake up "call" from some friends and my family. They told me that in every conversation I was having with them I was fretting. That I was talking about how I could "make this or that work" and trying to "work things out". That's self sufficiency not God Sufficiency! And they were right. After the last person mentioned that to me I thought "Okay God I hear you!" So He sent me to look at my prayer journal... and it was more like a Fret Journal. I was whining and fretting on paper and telling Him what had to be done, not asking Him what HE wanted to happen and who HE wanted to serve Him through these opportunities.
So I stepped back and had a literal come to Jesus meeting with myself. I sat down with Him and said..."I CANNOT do this...I know that. Only YOU can. I confess to You that I am trying to handle it all in my own strength. But I give up, I can't do it You are going to have to handle it and I give it to you. Help me to leave all these worries with You. And thank You for helping me leave it there and see what You are trying to show me."
When I finished talking AND listening I had such a great sense of His Peace and literally felt the tension leave. A really great song also came to mind. It is an oldie but a goodie: Keith Green's: "He'll Take Care of the Rest" (By the way, if you look to the right in my Playlist its the second song down. You can click on it to hear it.) Now for me,this song said it all: I needed to leave this very small thing in His eyes in His ALMIGHTY hands and be watching and listening and waiting for Him to provide. Now does this mean I will never try to handle things on my own, I wish! No I am sure I am going to have be looking for this and check myself.

So... what in your life right now are you trying to handle all on your own? Maybe its time to let God "handle the rest" for you. ???

By the way here are the lyrics in case you don't know the song:

He'll Take Care of the Rest
Keith Green

You know it ain't no use, banging your head, up against that cold stone wall,
Cause nobody's perfect, except for the Lord, and even the best bound to fall,
Remember He is de vine, and you are de branch,
He'd love to get you through it if you'd give Him a chance,
Just keep doing your best,
And pray that it's blessed,
And Jesus takes care of the rest.
Yes the Lord said that He'd take care of the rest, He's gonna do it,
He'll take care of the rest, He'll see you through it,
He'll take care of the rest, the devil blew it,
He'll take care of the, He'll take care of the rest.
Just think about Moses, in front of the burning bush,
barefoot on the Holy ground,
You know, he must have been thinking, what's an old dude like me,
Gonna tell em all when I go down, go down Moses,
The Lord said, hey Moe, don't you worry about going down south,
I'll be saying every word that comes out of your mouth,
Just keep doing your best, and pray that it's blessed,
Hey Moe, I'll take care of the rest.
Yes the Lord said that He'd take care of the rest, he's gonna do it,
He'll take care of the rest, He'll see you through it,
He'll take care of the rest, oh, Pharaoh blew it,
He'll take care of the, He'll take care of the rest.
Just believe, and you'll receive, that comfort you need,
You just think about all those lonely people you know,
They've got everything they want, but they have empty souls,
Well, He'll take care of the, He'll take care of the,
He'll take care of the, care of the rest.
You just think about Noah, toting his umbrella,
when there wasn't a cloud in the sky,
All his neighbors would laugh at his pet giraffe,
and would snicker as he walked by,
But the Lord said, hey Noah, keep cool, just keep building that boat,
It's just a matter of time till they see who's gonna float,
You just keep doing your best, and pray that it's blessed,
Hey Noah, I'll take care of the rest, I'm the weatherman.
The Lord said that he'll take care of the rest, He's gonna do it,
He'll take care of the rest, He'll see you through it,
He'll take care of the rest, his neighbors blew it,
He'll take care of the rest, He's gonna do it, He's gonna do it,
He'll take care of the rest, only Jesus can see you through it,
He'll take care of the rest, yes, yes, yes,
He'll take care of the, He'll take care of the rest….