I Have Enough Ice

When my ice maker is full, I remove some of the ice so that the icemaker can continue to produce. I store it in a ziploc bag in the freezer so that we will have plenty of ice.

Don't you hate it on a particularly hot afternoon when you go to fill your cup with ice and there isn't any? Maybe the house is full of guests, or it is just summer. Give me ice and plenty of it. I don't like to run out.

Yesterday, I went to the freezer and noted that the bin was indeed full. Then I noticed that there was already a full ziploc of ice cubes. Then I thought about the two large bags of ice in the large freezer in the garage. (Left over from the block party this weekend.)

I have enough ice.

Believe it or not, I almost felt guilty for not allowing my icemaker to continue to produce at full capacity. Like having that ability to produce and not doing so was somehow wrong.

Then it hit me.

I am my icemaker!

I do the very same thing with myself. No matter how much I produce, if I have the ability to produce more...I feel compelled to do so.

Maybe that's what the Psalmist was addressing in Psalm 46:10 when he wrote "Be still, and know that I am God;" Another translation says "Cease striving".

Cease striving. What a concept. I don't think this is a command to park under a tree and wait for animals to arrive with your daily bread. God has a pretty clear record of requiring labor. Second Thessalonians 3:10 says "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." He wants us to work, be productive, work hard even..but not to STRIVE. Give up that frenetic attitude that insists that you be producing output from the moment your feet hit the floor in the morning until your eyelids refuse to stay open at night.

Know that God is God.

Live prudently, but give up that knot in your stomach. Do your level best, but leave what you can't control to God.

You control less than you think.