By Angela Pattison – Thrive Church
The other day, I planted some shrubs which I had been looking forward to for ages.
They were silvery, healthy and arranged as a perfect garden edge.
Unfortunately though, half the plants were wrecked through no fault of my own.
I was quite cranky!
I’m sure farmers can tell a similar tale, and artists, programmers, pretty much any parent … we have all had something ruined that we had worked hard on.
I’ve been a Christian for many years, but I’ll have to admit my first instinct was not to pray.
It was to be angry and stress about what to do next.
Should I try to fix them? Should I start again?
Should I yell and cry, or binge eat/watch/run?
The fact this wasn’t my fault (in my own eyes) made it harder to deal with.
My prayers cannot fix anything by themselves.
This is because my words are, well, just words.
The role of prayer is to move myself and the situation from my own hands into God’s hands.
In God’s hands, things are very different.
Revenge, anger and stress get us nowhere.
Picking yourself up and soldiering on is better, but does not fix the underlying problem (or yourself).
My little plant crisis was no big deal, but the same principle applies to things which are big deals – relationship breakdown, loss of a loved one, financial distress, declining health.
Try putting yourself and the situation in God’s hands.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7.
The plants might not grow back, however, when I remembered to pray I realised there were many better things God had given me.
But who knows … I will see what emerges in the spring.
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