The Release

I am paid to deal with problems all day, every day. I get so overwhelmed and involved with other people's problems that I completely ignore my own. I am aware that if things could run smoothly on their own I would not have a job. I am also aware that everyone has problems and that I will never experience one day that is not filled with problems. However, I do not claim to be wise and I cannot see the big picture, so I worry about what else could break. If I had to list the amount of issues that I have going on, it would take forever. I suspect that there are problems that are buried so deep inside my mind that I would not even recognize them if they surfaced.

God provides us with a perfect instruction manual to equip us with the knowledge and the insight to know how to handle our daily annoyances. God also pleads with us to let go of those problems and give them to Him so that we can tackle our mission here on Earth.

This sort of self-pity and worry that we all have reminds me of my nephew when he was about four years old. Mom, Kirsten, Teri, Stevie, and I went to eat at a restaurant and Stevie accidentally spilled his drink. Before any of us had time to react, Stevie had already jumped up out of his chair and started yelling in a crescendo, anticipating the beating that he thought was going to come from Teri. We all got so tickled about it because he made such a scene (and he was so cute for worrying so much) that we laughed and Teri reassured him that he would not get in trouble for a mistake.

Sometimes I catch a glimpse of my nephew in me when I start worrying about my problems or grieving over mistakes I have made. I imagine that God looks down on his children with the same compassion and amusement that parents often look at their own children when they can't figure out how to solve a problem. Maybe adults should do more of the lip-out, hopeless, shoulders-forward release that children do during a fit so that we can be more open to God reaching down and picking us up and fixing the problem with a sweep of His hand, instead of defiantly standing proudly and acting like a brat.