Surrender

Look here, you people who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to such and such a town, stay there a year, and open up a profitable business." How do you know what is going to happen tomorrow? For the length of your lives is as uncertain as the morning fog - now you see it; soon it is gone. What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we shall live and do this or that." Otherwise you will be bragging about your own plans, and such self-confidence never pleases God.

Remember, too, that knowing what is right to do and then not doing it is sin. James 4: 13-17 (TLB)

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank him for his answers. Philippians 4:4 (TLB)

Andre de Albuquerque Caetano lives in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Long before their children were born, Andre and his wife started to make plans for their lives. These expectations, hopes, and fears seem to be a big part of parenting. They have wondered: Will our children be good students and professionals? Are they going to keep loving God? Will the world be hard on them? Sometimes they worry more than pray for them, forgetting that we are all children of the same Creator.

For instance, Andre and his wife were anxious about their daughter's future plans as she neared high school graduation. They envisioned her going to college or doing a short international exchange or working for a year before going back for more schooling. But then COVID-19 spread around the world and their plans fell apart.

Going to college was not an option and neither was traveling. They turned to God, praying and reading scripture together. The uncertainty of the pandemic had forced them to look to God and remember that the Almighty's love never fails. We find comfort in God's words: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:9). Our God is all powerful.

Prayer: Lord of love and mercy, teach us how to pray and rest in you. Give us our daily bread, and help us to be anxious for nothing, in Jesus' name. Amen.