Monday, August 27, 2007

The Elephant in the Room

It’s one in the morning and I can’t sleep because there is an elephant in the room. Not a literal elephant of course; but rather a proverbial elephant. An elephant that I can’t stop looking at. I mean, if there was an elephant in your room you would look at it too. I try not to look. I close my eyes and pretend like the elephant is not there…and I slowly start to think that I may have willed it away. So I open my eyes to check, only to find the elephant is bigger and more of a reminder. Because that’s what this elephant is…it’s a reminder. It is here, so I don’t forget….so I can’t forget.

And as I stare at this elephant I realize something very profound…I am powerless against this elephant. So I am left feeling small, weak, and powerless. Nothing I can do can rid me of this elephant…nothing can rid me of this reminder. My thoughts continually go back and forth and I can’t seem to get free.

What an unlikely scenario…but I go through it daily. The Psalmist writes about wrestling with his thoughts, and I could not think of a better way of phrasing it. I am wrestling with these thoughts, I am powerless against them, and I am left feeling angry. I am left feeling angry at God because I am powerless. Nothing I can think of can rid me of these thoughts. Nothing I can do can rid me of these thoughts. And once again I am left to rely on and trust God…and that makes me angry. I don’t really want to trust Him completely….sometimes I don’t even want to trust Him at all. So it’s lucky for me then that I don’t really have a choice as to whether to trust God. In this I mean that a relationship with God implies trust. I can’t walk with God if I don’t trust him. So I am left with only one choice. The only choice I have is this: will I trust God, or will I reject Him and grasp for autonomy?

And so I strive to trust…because I know He sees the elephant as well.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You write very well.