A Moment to Pause …. When Things Don’t go as Planned

I was recently sitting in the doctor’s office with my 11 year old. He sat next to me groaning, his fever rising, and throat that “felt like it was on fire.” At that very moment I was supposed to be sitting in the cafeteria, with every other fifth grade parent in his elementary school. It was a ceremony I had been looking forward to and dreading all at the same time. Instead of watching him walk across the stage and receive a Certificate of Graduation, he was handed a prescription for amoxicillin and a diagnosis of strep throat.

This is a novel revelation, but sometimes, things don’t go as planned. This idea is obvious with the bigger things in life; not getting the job we wanted, the house we thought was for us, or the raise we worked hard for. For me it’s the smaller things, trivial daily annoyances that seem to throw me overboard into an ocean of self-pity. 

The flat tire.

The dishwasher that stopped working right before hosting company for a week. 

The dog stepping in poop and dragging it through my freshly mopped kitchen floor. 

The worst timing of a sick kid.

The list goes on and on…

In these moments, let us pause…

Lord, we know you offer more to us in our daily lives than a clean floor. Yet, when the unexpected happens, or the day doesn’t go as planned it can be easy to forget.

We can feel sorry for ourselves. Eager for the day to end, looking forward to the new mercies tomorrow will bring. 

We feel guilty in feeling sorry for ourselves when the unexpected occurs, when things could be worse. What is an inconvenienced mess when we are called to so much more? 

We pray it would show glimpses of areas in our lives we seek to control, help us release those to You. 

Help us pry open our fingers when our fists are tightly clenched.

Help us to draw closer to You in our sulking and self-pity.

Help us to encourage others when we notice them having days like these too, we pray.