My 2 Words!

I've been thinking a lot about this coming year and what I can do to make it the best it can possibly be.  One of the things that I need to do to make it good is really try to relinquish control....I mean really give it up.  This means I need to trust more....people (ugh), but mainly trust Jesus.  Trusting people has been hard for me as of late.  The last few years have proven to be very revealing in that respect, and my trust in people in general has been compromised.  Yesterday I was reading something, and honestly I don't even really remember what or where; but I do remember reading this....God sent the rainbow as a sign that he would never flood the earth again.  It was a covenant between God and people.
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”  Genesis 9:12-16 
I don't remember the first time I read that scripture or heard about that covenant, but I do remember that I never had any doubt that it was true.  I still don't.  I trust God 110% that He will never flood the earth again.  I trust God 110% when He made this covenant, even though I wasn't alive during the great flood, even though there are many things in the Old Testament that I don't personally practice as a Christian; but still I trust Him every time I see a rainbow.  Why is it so easy for me to trust Him in this instance but so hard in my every day life?  Maybe it's because I wasn't around for the great flood and didn't experience all the hard that accompanied it, or maybe it's because I look at it as a fresh start (even though there had to be another fresh start later on, because we humans can't get it right); or maybe it's because rainbows are lovely and totally suck me in with their endless beauty.  One thing I've thought about a lot today is people and being disappointed, and how hard and hurtful that has been over these last few years.  I thought a lot about my people and how I don't want them to hurt, or mess up or be disappointed or disappoint.  As tough as it is, I know ultimately I have no control over people or their actions; I only have control over me and my actions/reactions.  I have preached this to the choir for a few years now, and it has been extremely difficult to live by.  I can deal with being disappointed and hurt, although I don't like to.  When I see others hurt or disappointed is when I wish I had the ability to "change things, make them better, or protect them".  Sometimes I get lost in the moment and find myself in an internal panic..."what can I do to get them through this" frame of mind and forget that He's got it.  And even when it's hard, seems like it would be impossible or really really bad; He will reveal some good.  So this year, my words are RELINQUISH and TRUST...as in control and in Jesus! AMEN!