From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, Psalm 61:2 (NLT)
Have you ever seen the commercial for Snickers where the main character is hangry (hungry and angry)? They act out, not being themselves until eventually someone hands them a Snickers to eat and it returns them to normal.
That’s how I felt recently in a church meeting. We were talking about a God Project and all the implications. When you read “God Project” feel free to insert the words unknown, bigger than we are, full of surprises, etc. Because let’s face it, when God puts you on mission anything can happen and it will always be bigger than you.
I remember sitting in the meeting feeling scared. I wasn’t scared because I was terrified; I was scared because it was overwhelming. Overwhelming because I sensed things were about to change; overwhelming because this was going to get bigger than we were. When I feel overwhelmed, I tend to get very detail oriented and logistical. I focus on details that may or may not be important but usually are not important at that particular moment. And that is exactly where I went.
Later, as I was driving God revealed this to me. The funny thing is I’m pretty sure I’ve done this all my adult life but I never knew what triggered it. Suddenly, I do. There was a little relief in that aha moment but the real question became “God, how do I overcome this?” You see, being detail oriented and thinking logistical can be a good thing as long as it is contributing toward the mission. But when I am doing it to make myself feel safe and secure, that’s going to be counter-productive.
Here are my take aways from this experience.
God is active in our lives to grow us to be the kids he wants us to be.
My security can never be the main goal. It has to be about God’s plan.
When God reveals something to me, I need to ask him for help to change the behavior (because let’s face it….if I’ve been doing it all this time I’m not likely to change it by myself.)
Instead of reaching for a Snickers, I need to reach for The Rock. And there I will find my safety.