I am not one to step down from a challenge. When the going gets tough, the tough get going, or so the saying goes. I have always been one that keeps going until the job is done, when things are hard, when I am tired, when I have no strength left, take a little break and then keep going. But recently I’ve been learning the hard way that sometimes that’s not possible and that’s okay. It’s more than okay actually it’s good. It turns out there are times to put things, down, times to ask for help, times to end things, time to give things to others and even times to run away.
It’s important to do what we can and to join in with God in the things He’s called us to, but it’s also important to know what we can’t do and what God hasn’t asked us to do. In my previous job as an engineer, there would be times that a machine that we looked after broke drown in a significant and mysterious way. Lots of the engineers would gather around it, gets stressed, shout different competing theories at each other and pull various parts of the machine. Some of these times I would go to the storeroom and tidy it up. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, the storeroom always needed tidying. Secondly, because it was a very difficult environment to think clearly in, I needed to retreat to somewhere away from the problem in order to work out how to address it.
In Genesis 39, when Potiphar’s wife tried to convince Joseph to do something that he knew was wrong, he didn’t stop to think about it, or try to talk his way out of the situation, he simply ran away – as quickly as his legs could carry him it would seem. I often wonder if he hadn’t if he would have ended up guilty of what he ended up being accused of? We want to be strong enough to face any challenge an be able to do the right thing in any circumstance, but we all have our weaknesses and sometimes the best thing to do is get out before we do something we regret.
No budding guitarist starts with “stairway to heaven”, and no builder try’s to finish building a house in a day or by himself. We need to know our limits, God never asked us to do everything, nor did he ask us to do it all by ourselves. Sometimes we need to lay things down for a while to renew our strength. Sometimes we ask people to help and invite them to join in with what God has for us. And sometimes we have to let go of things completely recognising that they aren’t what God has for us anymore – trusting that God holds all things in His hands, both us and what we have been called to.
Originally written for the February 2024 ABC Newsletter
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