Lies, betrayal, bad news, frightening news, plots to steal your job, or discovering you’ve been the subject of nasty gossip. Life is full of these experiences, though sometimes I think half of them are all in our head.

Imagined or real there is only one action that can bring peace, to lay all that you are and all that you have at our Lord’s feet. This includes health, reputation, family, livelihood, and indeed your very mind and soul. When you put these things in God’s hands you become free to notice other things — smiles of gratitude and eyes twinkling at you, pleasant thoughts and fond memories instead of only awful ones. You experience joy and gentleness. You develop wisdom, fortitude, courage, and knowledge about people and their hidden motives that usually stem from a need in themselves, if you think about it. You learn to understand and empathize with others’ pains and heartaches. In essence, when you put your spirit and soul into God’s hands with the thought of the verse that comes after no one can destroy the essence of you or your integrity in spite of what else they may do.

“Into your hands I commend my spirit;

You will redeem me, O Lord, O faithful God.”  Psalm 31:5

Picture is The Entombment of St. Stephen Martyr by Joan de Joanes (1510-1579), public domain.