As I looked on I could see my husband, the “yard master”, was becoming very frustrated. He was standing in the midst of our newly planted grass that now appeared to have two very large brown spots. I had made the mistake earlier that morning of calling them “dead” spots, but I was quickly corrected for that gross error. “It will come back,” he said. “Just look, there are green blades among the brown ones.” Whatever, I thought.

Anyway, it appeared the sprinklers weren’t hitting the brown areas, so my husband was trying to adjust each sprinkler head, while the water was on. Water was spewing everywhere, he was soaking wet, not to mention a little annoyed at this setback with the new lawn. He caught my gaze in the window. I will admit I was a little tickled at the whole scene outside. He was not amused by my chuckles and said, “Well, don’t just stand there, do something.”

How many times have we heard that phrase, or said it ourselves? Usually it is said in those panicked moments when everything seems to be falling apart. I am in no way trying to make light of serious, or even dangerous, situations where others have yelled and screamed those words. But have you ever thought of what God is doing during those moments as He watches us in our panic-stricken state? Is He laughing? Is He crying? Is He mad? Is He shaking His head, saying, “don’t they ever learn?” I can only guess, but knowing that He is a loving God who wants what’s best for his children, He could be saying, “Don’t just do something, stand there.”

So often we run around trying to fix the messes that we have made, or the messes that have been done to us. Maybe if we had just waited on the Lord, waited for him to give us direction, things wouldn’t get so out of hand. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” That verse speaks volumes to me. I read that verse and see it saying; Take a seat Krista and let me handle this situation. Calm down Krista and let me be the Lord of your life.

Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us that we are not to lean on our own understanding, but trust that God knows what he is doing. Oh, how difficult it can be to let go of our own human ways of fixing problems. But when we do, the outcome is always for the best because we have waited on the Lord and allowed him to direct our paths.

So, back to our lawn. Our brown patches turned green again with many daily watering sessions. I watched that grass, and you know, it just stood there. It didn’t try to do anything to make itself grow. It just let the “yard master” water it. How would our daily struggles turn out if we just let our Master work through the details?

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Scripture References:

• Psalm 46:10
• Proverbs 3:5-6
• Ephesians 3:20-21
• Matthew 11:28-30