Do you like quotes? I have a notebook of my favorite quotes. Some of them are from famous people, like Billy Graham, Mother Teresa , or Bill Cosby. Others are things friends of mine or pastors have said that hold a great deal of meaning for me, so I wrote them down.
This morning I came across this quote by Lena Horne and had to ponder it a minute. It’s weighty. It carries a lot of truth.
I thought back to last week when Atlanta was hit by the snow and ice so quickly, leaving hundreds of drivers stranded on the roads. People were freaking out. I was over it long before it was over. However, when I reflect, it wasn’t dangerous. Think about it for a minute:
- I knew where I was the entire time.
- I knew no one was going to harm me.
- There were people and places of business around me.
- If emergency crews had to get to me for medical reasons, they would be able to do so, even if it took a little longer than normal.
- I knew I could eventually get home, eventually.
It was uncomfortable, inconvenient, and a real pain in the butt, but that’s about it. Yet, people responded like it was the end of the world. The bottom line…we all had things to do, people to see and places to go and this was not on our schedule.
When I was last in Ghana, we traveled throughout most of the country. We were traveling from Bolgatanga to Kumasi. There are literally miles and miles of nothing but grass, dirt, and road. You can drive for well over an hour without seeing another living human being, let alone car. At one point, in the middle of nowhere, our van broke down. Smoke poured out from under the hood. We weren’t moving. It didn’t look good.
Seven women and a male driver broken down on the side of the road. There is no AAA in Ghana. We were stuck and it could have been hours before we saw another person or vehicle, yet, we were all so calm. No one got upset or started freaking out. We simply prayed and believed. Within fifteen minutes the van was running without any sign of a problem. Our driver, Eddie, couldn’t explain the change. He didn’t do anything to the engine.
Needless to say, I carried my load in Ghana in the sweltering heat much better than I carried my load in frozen Atlanta, Georgia. In Georgia, I was trying to figure out how I was going to solve my problem. I kept looking for a way out. In Ghana, I knew I couldn’t do anything about my situation, so I talked to the One who could.
Psalm 55:22 says,
Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.”
When we can learn to make our first response to any situation Jesus, then, and only then, will we walk in the peace that surpasses all understanding [Philippians 4:7].
How are you carrying your load today? Isn’t it time you placed it at His feet?
Truly and honestly love your stuff… though, I see what you’re working hard to continue accomplishing awareness and making a difference with such horrific issues as sex trafficking. With that said, I do know an open-minded person when I see one. Consider leveraging all humans rather than a specific gender. Think of the possibilities that uniting all of us with the one thing we all have in common… we’re all human. If we all could just see each other as just that…