Consider the Ravens

For those of you who have never met me, I'm a bit of a control freak.  I want it to be all about MY
plans and MY agenda, and sometimes God needs to remind me that I can't always be in control.

I received this email this morning:
"I just got a call from your long-term substitute.  She is no longer available to sub (she was offered a full-time job as a lateral entry teacher).  Do you know of anyone else?"

I was a ball of emotions -- happiness for the sub (she's been trying to get a lateral entry position for a while now), disappointment (she had been such a good fit), panic (how are we going to find a sub -- a GOOD SUB -- in time?), frustration, the list goes on and on.

The Lord knew what He was doing when he made Jason my husband.  While I'm an emotional person (ecstatic! angry! jubilant! bummed!), he remains level-headed 99% of the time.  The only exceptions to that are when he is in traffic or dealing with a poorly-made website.  Even when we found out we were having a boy (something Jason really wanted), he just sat there smiling.  No happy dance, no woohoo, just a smile.  Anyway, God paired us together so that Jason could constantly pull me back in off the ledge of overreaction.

          J: This is not your problem.
          M: But they're my kids!
          J: It is the state's problem.  Your job is to have a baby.  They'll figure things out.

Wise man.

In Jason's office at work, a small corner of his dry erase board simply says, "Consider the ravens."  He keeps it there as a reminder to him of Luke 12:24-26:

"Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap... and God feeds them.  Of how much more value are you than the birds?  And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?"

He says this message reminds him that no matter what situation he faces, God's looking out for him.

We're studying God's will right now in Sunday School class.  God's will can be divided into three separate parts:

          Providential Will -- What God is going to do no matter what
          Moral Will -- God's commandments, His guidelines for right and wrong found in the Word
          Personal Will -- His will for our individual lives, guided by the decisions we make

God knew my original long-term sub was not going to be the individual who actually started the school year for me (providential will).  He knew she would get the full-time position and decide to accept it (personal will).  He knows who my new sub will be (providential will).  My job is to "consider the ravens," panic less, and trust more (moral will).