As I drowsily rolled over to sleep for the night, it suddenly happened. My mind kicked into overdrive.
I knew it had been a stressful day, but now every detail and conversation seemed to replay at lightning speed. The thoughts came so fast, they felt impossible to stop. I hadn't experienced anything quite like it since retiring from a highly stressful job.
Our normally peaceful neighborhood was in an uproar. A communications company had crossed private property to lay fiber-optic cable without permission, and heavy equipment was cutting across the beauty of our land.
To some, this might seem like a trivial problem. But here in Montana, we love our land almost like family. It's precious to us.
Before long, the situation was escalating. Our quiet countryside had been turned upside down—and there I lay, wide awake in the middle of the night.
The next morning, I awoke with a downcast spirit. Then I remembered these words: "My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." —Psalm 121:2
What a comforting reminder. The One who made heaven and earth has the power to help me. He never sleeps. He never looks away. He watches over His children.
Maybe you don't have someone disturbing your peace. Perhaps your heart is troubled by a wayward or sick child. I've been there too. Maybe illness, financial struggles, a broken relationship or tough decisions have left you feeling overwhelmed.
As tears streamed down my face that morning, another verse came to mind: "I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears." —Psalm 34:4
Those tears were needed. Sometimes they come from emotions we've held inside for too long. And perhaps that's part of God's beautiful design—to release some of the tension we were never meant to carry alone.
As the tears fell, I knew peace was waiting. I found it in Lucy Grimble's song, Spacious Place. The message spoke deeply to my heart: Surrender.
Surrendering my anxiety. Releasing my need to know every answer. Trusting God with the outcome. That's where I found the calm wave beginning to soothe my troubled heart.
"You have called me out, into a space where there is freedom..." And in that spacious place, beyond my fears and beyond the boundaries I had created, I could finally rest.
So, today, I surrender the right to know every answer. I rest in the truth He is God—and I am not.
Sometimes peace doesn't come when our circumstances change. Sometimes it comes when we finally release our grip and surrender everything into God's capable hands.
Closing Prayer
Lord, I surrender what I cannot control to You. Quiet my anxious heart and help me rest in the knowledge that You are God, You are good, and You are with me always. Amen.
