It was the third time she was scattering the pile of neatly ironed and folded clothes. Dorcas needed to submit a very important document at a conference slated for 2 p.m. She had dressed up early, ready to leave the house by 1 p.m.
Certain that she had kept the document in her wardrobe, she approached it confidently, only to be greeted with disappointment. The document was nowhere to be found.
In disbelief, she tore through the wardrobe again. And again. She scattered and rearranged the clothes thrice. She was so sure she had kept it there, so its disappearance made no sense. Twenty whole minutes slipped away as she ransacked the wardrobe. Refusing to accept she might have moved it, she persisted, growing more frustrated with every effort she invested.
Time was running out, and Dorcas still had no document. Frustration crept into her heart as she realized how much time she had wasted searching for what she now called a “killjoy,” because why would this document choose to go missing at such a critical moment? she thought.
Exhausted, she sank into the sofa in her room and stared helplessly at the clock on the wall. The hour hand edged dangerously toward 2 p.m., while the minute hand announced, to her dismay, that she had only thirty minutes left.
The noise she had been making drew the attention of her mother, Mrs. Dupe, who was visiting for the holidays.
“Dear, what happened? Why are you scattering your clothes like this?” she asked gently, as the moved closer to her daughter while sipping from the glass of water she held.
“Mum… this document is the weapon fashioned against me attending this conference! Why would it choose to disappear at such a dire moment?” Dorcas groaned, with her hands clasped over her head.
Her mother looked at her with deep concern. Frustration was written all over Dorcas’ face. She wished she could help. After a moment, she asked calmly, “Have you asked the Holy Spirit to help you find it?”
That question sounded familiar. Dorcas had watched her mother involve the Holy Spirit in everything, right down to locating misplaced items. She had heard countless testimonies of how she was spared the stress of unnecessary efforts because she chose to always involve the Holy Spirit.
“No, Mum. It didn’t cross my mind,” she admitted, rising to begin yet another round of frantic searching.
“Well, you can do so now,” her mother advised, before quietly leaving the room.
Out of sheer desperation, Dorcas whispered a few words of prayer:“Lord… this shouldn’t be happening now. Please show me where the document is.”
However, moments later, she became agitated when she saw she had only twenty minutes left. She searched all over the room, overturning anything that could possibly hide the document. Her actions were almost as though she doubted that God heard her prayer, and felt she needed to ‘assist’ Him.
Then, in His mercy, God directed her gaze to a storage box on the table close to the wardrobe. Suddenly, she remembered her husband had mentioned that he kept one of her documents in that box earlier that morning before he travelled.
Dorcas rushed to the box and opened it. There it was—the innocent document staring back at her.
She glanced at the clock. It had been just three minutes since she prayed.
Stunned, she stood frozen for a moment, staring at the document in disbelief. Then she snapped back to reality, grabbed her bag, and hurried to the car.
Thankfully, she arrived just in time. A delay due to some technical issues had pushed back the start of the program, giving her a window to settle in and submit her proposal—one intended for key stakeholders from South Africa who were present at the conference.
Driving home later, she wondered why she hadn’t prayed first. She could have saved herself the anxiety and chaos. She realized that her efforts alone would have been futile if God had not directed her. She could have missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of submitting her proposal directly to the stakeholders but God, in His mercy, used her mother to redirect her gaze to Him. It was a clear indicator that God was interested in the little things in her life, things as little as searching for a lost item.
Within three minutes of praying a simple prayer, God intervened.
It dawned on her that if believers would learn to involve the Holy Spirit in everything, not just emergencies, much frustration, wasted efforts, and needless anxiety would be avoided.
I agree with Dorcas.
If we Christians intentionally choose to involve God first in every circumstance, no matter how small or big, the rising levels of anxiety and frustration in our lives over minor or major issues will drastically reduce. The world has taught us to think logically, which in itself isn’t wrong. However, when logic becomes our foundation instead of Scripture, we invite unnecessary frustration with every failed attempt.
Trying is good. Working hard is good. But have you involved God first?
When we pray before trying, even if things don’t go as planned, we remain at peace, knowing that God is in control.
Dear friends, the Holy Spirit is our ever-present Helper. He cares about every tiny detail of our daily lives. Therefore , before you panic, before you search endlessly, before you exhaust yourself trying… pause, breathe, and pray.
If we can trust God in big things, we can also trust him in the little things.