For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? – Psalms 18:31 (ESV)

On the scale of natural disasters, this was extremely small potatoes.  Well… not potatoes.  This happened somewhere along a highway between Dongguan and Guangzhou in southeast China, so we’ll say it was small dumplings.

We had just visited Austin’s orphanage and were heading back to our hotel in Guangzhou.  It had been rainy, steamy… the kind of humidity that makes people in Georgia in the middle of summer say, “Now that’s humid!”

There were eleven of us in the van.  We had just discovered what life had been like for our children.

We had just discovered that a Big Mac in China tastes exactly like a Big Mac in America.

And now, as we sat on a bridge overlooking the Pearl River Delta opening into the Pacific Ocean (or what we could see of it through the thick, murky haze), we were discovering the nuisance of a mudslide flowing over a busy highway.

When we finally made it to the spot where the hillside had slipped into the right lane of the road, it didn’t look like much.  But it sure slowed things down and, no doubt, was a hassle for people trying to get back to Guangzhou.

Mudslides occur when unsettled earth is eroded away by water, causing the resulting mud to shift.  Small mudslides can be a pain.  Large ones can be catastrophic.  (Yes, I’m sure I picked this information up in third grade science.)

Especially if your home is built atop the hill that just crumbled beneath it.

This week, I found some sand under my foundation – a stress trigger that I didn’t expect.  In the grand scheme of things, it is small dumplings: a non-problem that kicked my anxiety into low gear.  Not fun, but not catastrophic.  Just a spot that needs to be shored up.

The Lord is using this incident to remind me of sitting in that muggy van in China, wanting to get back to the White Swan Hotel but stuck in traffic brought to a stand-still by circumstances beyond my control.

Anytime I build my hopes, or beliefs, or plans on anything other than God, I risk the danger of a faulty foundation build on crumbling sand.  I set myself up for a mudslide.

But, when I build my hopes and beliefs on God through Jesus Christ, my Rock, I can stand firm knowing that He is the One Who controls the outcomes.

Who upholds me and guides me.

Who calls the shots.

Who knows far better than I what I need.

I do not have to be perfect.  I don’t even have to be right.  I just have to be His.

I have to yield to God.

I have to rest faithfully in Him, because when I trust in the Lord, I put down my preconceived notions and schemes and fully rely on God.

I am firmly in God’s hands.  You are, too.  And, because of that, all our problems are small dumplings.