{"id":757,"date":"2011-10-23T09:00:17","date_gmt":"2011-10-23T14:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=757"},"modified":"2011-10-20T23:02:18","modified_gmt":"2011-10-21T04:02:18","slug":"whos-in-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=757","title":{"rendered":"Who’s in Control?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I just watched a great old Jimmy Stewart movie on television the other night. Shenandoah<\/em> takes place during the mid 1800s. Charlie Anderson, played by Jimmy Stewart, is a widowed farmer and family patriarch who promised his dead wife he would raise their children as Christians. So he takes the family to church each Sunday and dutifully says this prayer before every meal, \u201cOh Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it and sowed it and harvested. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn\u2019t be here and we wouldn\u2019t be eating it if we hadn\u2019t done it all ourselves. We worked dog bone hard for every crumb and morsel but we thank you just the same Lord for this food we\u2019re about to eat anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s not exactly the model prayer mentioned in Matthew 6 is it? But in Charlie\u2019s mind it suffices.<\/p>\n

When the Civil War breaks out, Charlie faces quite a dilemma. He refuses to support the South because he\u2019s opposed to slavery. He refuses to support the North because he is deeply opposed to war. Unfortunately he is located in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and remaining neutral is virtually impossible, especially after his youngest son is captured.<\/p>\n

After a quest to find his son, getting involved in a war he wanted no part of, turmoil, strife, and hardship, what remains of the family is gathered once again around the table to eat. As they bow their heads Charlie starts to pray. It\u2019s the same prayer but in a more humble spirit. In a raspy voice he barely chokes out the words, \u201cOh Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it and sowed it and harvested. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn\u2019t be here and we wouldn\u2019t be eating it if we hadn\u2019t done it all ourselves.\u201d When he says the word \u201courselves,\u201d he can say no more. He leaves the table holding back his tears and goes to his wife\u2019s grave on a hill above the farmhouse.<\/p>\n

Charlie learned some hard lessons. He learned he couldn’t always control everything that happened in his life. He also learned a lesson we all struggle to learn. We don\u2019t do it all ourselves.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s sad that we don\u2019t see that until we are faced with trials we can\u2019t control. I wonder if we aren\u2019t sometimes guilty of praying that first prayer \u2013 paying God homage but secretly thinking we are doing it all. Maybe we can get by with that kind of prayer for a while, until God allows a trial to bring us down to reality.<\/p>\n

Whether we believe it or not, God is in control. It may appear we are doing all the \u201cdog bone hard work,\u201d but there is a higher power who allows us to clear, plow, and sow. He provides sunshine and rain for the growth. And then if He so wills, allows us to harvest, cook, and eat.<\/p>\n

Charlie learned the hard way that the Lord giveth and the Lord can taketh away. If we humbly realize that He is in charge, we spare ourselves from having to be humbled. The Lord can also giveth back again if He so chooses. After all, He is in control!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just watched a great old Jimmy Stewart movie on television the other night. Shenandoah takes place during the mid 1800s. Charlie Anderson, played by Jimmy Stewart, is a widowed farmer and family patriarch who promised his dead wife he … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}