He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; Psalm 121:3 (NIV)
Judy and I have just returned from vacation, something we haven’t done very often during almost forty-eight years of marriage. We went to Destin, Florida, with our daughter, Mary and her family. It was a great time and we all benefitted from getting out of our normal work routines. We’ve returned renewed, refreshed, and ready to tackle the daily routines of life here in Springfield, Missouri.
If you’re like me, there is almost always a degree of anxiety associated with taking a vacation. Will I fall too far behind in my daily responsibilities? Will the house be ok while we’re gone? Will Daisy, our little dog, be cared for properly? Will our car function well during the almost 2000 miles of driving we’ll be doing? Will the condominium we’ve rented turn out to be a good place to spend five days? Are we packing the right clothes and other stuff needed during our time on the road and in Destin?
Enough said. You get the point. Worry, stress, anxiety…seems absurd to associate these feelings with a trip to the beach. It seems even more crazy when you consider that the Lord wants us to take time off to rest and get refreshed.
As human beings, we certainly don’t need instruction on the many ways to stress out. We’re masters at doing this! What we’re not so good at is simply trusting God. He knows that you and I aren’t robots. He didn’t make us that way. We need time to sleep, to eat, and to rest—and to go on vacation every so often. We can’t keep working all the time.
Psalm 121:3 is a great reminder of something very important about learning to trust God more. The Lord is not like us. He’s always awake and alert. He doesn’t need to sleep. Further, He’s always watching over us. He has my back. He has yours, too!
What did I learn from this vacation? I was needlessly anxious. Sure, we had to do our part with regard to planning and preparation. God knows we did those things and committed every aspect of the trip to prayer. But that’s all we needed to do. Anxiety, worry, stress- all of that was unnecessary and a complete waste of time and energy.
Lord, thanks for always being there and watching out for us. You are an awesome God!
This is so true. For me some of the stress is caused by getting out of my comfort zone and being exposed to unknown experiences. Thanks for the reminder that God is always with us.