Too Thin

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Too Thin

by Monica Gambrell

Have you ever heard of Murphy’s Law? It states that anything that can go wrong probably will go wrong. While that is not my pervading philosophy, I assure you that there are moments in my life that definitely try the theory. I’m going to share an embarrassing story that will highlight it.

I was attending a medium-sized Southern Baptist Church (around 500 members), and at the beginning of the service, there was a time set aside when we mingled and greeted one another while the music played. I was known to be one of the last people seated. I always hurried across the sanctuary to get back to my seat. One morning, just as I reached the end of my pew, the music stopped, the Pastor rose to his feet, and there wasn’t a sound. As I stepped into the pew, I felt an oddly warm sensation around my ankles and instantly heard some giggles from the choir. I looked up to see them all looking at me!

My slip had fallen from my waist to the floor and was puddled there waiting to trip me up. I could have crawled under a rock I was so embarrassed. But it immediately turned to giggles as I reached down to retrieve the slip, tuck it under the arm of my cardigan, and hightail it to the nearest exit. I could still hear their laughter as I entered the ladies’ room. Then I laughed as I had never laughed before. It was like a nervous tic; I tried desperately to stop, but I couldn’t control it! A member entered the restroom and told me that my laughing could still be heard in the sanctuary, so I exited through the front doors of the church. Unfortunately, some visitors were coming in at the same time and asked me what was so funny. I relayed the incident between outbursts of laughter. Unfortunately, we never saw them again.

The reason my slip fell off was that it had been stretched to the max from too many years of being pulled over my voluminous hips. We are like that slip sometimes, aren’t we? We allow the things of this world to stretch us to the max, and then we fall. Want to head up a church committee? Sure! How about leading a book drive? Absolutely. Would you babysit for me? Sounds good. And the list goes on. When will we realize that we are stretched too thin? There is always a price to pay for staying so busy, that we fail to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn how to be in this world.

“He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed” (Psalm 107:29).

Father God, we are so thankful that you can and do not only calm the storm surrounding us, but also the storm within us. We say yes to things that are good—but not best. We somehow equate doing more with Your blessings. The truth is that You would rather we be concerned less about doing and more about being. Help us, Lord, to prioritize as You would, and to rest peacefully in Your presence so that we are never stretched too thin.