I remember it well. I remember digging myself into a hole that I could not get out of, and the more that I tried – the more I would be digging myself deeper. I was tired and miserable. I remember crying out for help, hoping someone would hear my screams; but no one answered. I finally lost all energy to go on, and I sat in my hole, feeling sorry for myself. As I sat there, I heard my name being called. I stood up, wondering who had found me. I looked up and saw a man. I looked into his eyes and saw his pain. He called down to me asking if I was alright. I tried to explain what had happened and found myself crying. He looked at me with tender eyes, and asked me if I trusted him. I didn’t know what to say. He looked like a nice man, but I had been burned before. I didn’t know who to trust. He reached out his hand, and I again looked into his eyes. It was as if he was trying to tell me that everything would be alright and that I could trust him. I reached for his hand, and he pulled me out of my hole. As I stood on sturdy ground, a sense of relief washed over me. Unable to hold the emotions, I fell to my knees and cried again, but this time was different. I wasn’t crying because of sadness or fear; I was crying because I was safe, and the agony was over. I felt relief. As I cried, I could feel his presence. I felt his arms wrap around me, giving me comfort as he prayed for me, asking his father to give me strength and encouragement. As my crying ceased, he took my hands and helped me to my feet. He looked into my eyes and said for me follow him. I said that I needed my stuff that was left in the hole. He shook his head and said that if I wanted to be free I must leave it behind and follow him. I needed to have faith that everything would be alright.

That was one of the hardest decisions of my life. I cannot tell you how many times that I have tried to do things on my own, and the consequences of my actions were devastating. I remember crying for help, begging my Father to get me out of my mess. I remember Him telling me that I first needed to get rid of my baggage and to follow Him, having faith. It is a very hard and very easy thing to do. It’s hard, because you have to give up your life. You have to throw away your baggage, because it’s only going to tear you down. You have to give up control – to drop everything and to follow Him. It’s also easy though, because it’s so tiring to try to be constantly in control. If you give it all to God, you no longer have to worry about your baggage. It is a burden you no longer have to carry, and you can finally have relief. It’s just as Christ said in the book of Matthew, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

If He can take care of the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, He can certainly take care of me. If He can free Joseph from prison and have him appointed second in command of Egypt under the pharaoh, God can certainly guide my life with no worries.