Unnecessary Stress

This is one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs. It expresses such a beautiful cry to the Lord. It reveals a young girl who's imperfect and who feels like she's not ready for the mission the Lord has given her. But I feel this song relates to more than just Mary, the mother of Jesus. I can relate to much of it.

I am waiting

in a silent prayer

I am frightened

by the load I bear

In a world as cold as stone

Must I walk this path alone

Be with me now

This verse is so real. So genuine. So relatable. I love it. But I think this next verse is probably one of my favorites in the song:

Do you wonder

As you watch my face

If a wiser one, should of had my place

But I offer-all I am

For the mercy-of your plan

Help me be strong

I feel so inadequate and ill-equipped to follow through with His plan in my life. I see the tasks He has laid before me, and I shy away in fear. I look at my life and I ask 'Why me?'. Not necessarily in a complaining way, but in an overwhelmed and confused way. I wonder why He thinks that I could accomplish such a thing. 

But then He reminds me, it's not me. It's Him through me. 

I feel as Christians, we put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect in everything. To never stumble and make mistakes. Never say the wrong thing and make the wrong decision. But, I guess what I've come to learn is, He is sovereign. Sounds simple and like a 'well....duh.', yet still Christians are constantly stressing themselves out and adding unnecessary pressure to their lives. Yes, we all have a choice, and our choices have a consequence, but God is bigger than all of that! Adam and Eve ate the fruit, which caused sin to enter the world, but look how much bigger God has proved Himself. They made a bad decision, but He has shined through that dark cloud against all odds.

(This post wasn't originally supposed to go in this direction, btw. haha. I find that this happens a lot! I'll start writing and suddenly things will take a turn. I figure might as well go with the flow of what my fingers want to type and my mind wants to say ;P )

So, I guess my basic point is, we need to chill. I know personally, I add much too much stress to my life by trying to be perfect. I still believe in choosing wisely and being prayerful about decisions, etc. I believe we should go to the Lord about everything, even the simple things and seek His counsel and guidance and try to make the absolute best decision. Don't think I'm saying otherwise. But, if what you do happens to not be the totally, 100%, greatest thing, it's not the end of the world. God is so much bigger than our decisions and our mistakes. He's got your back :)