One night when I was worried sick about something, I found four words sitting quietly on page 1291 of my Bible. I’d read them countless times before, but as I stared at them this time, they fairly flew at me like stones from a slingshot. The four words, now well underlined in my New International version, are leave room for God.

The immediate context, Romans 12:19, involves retri­bution. When someone harms us, advised the writer, we shouldn’t try to get even, but should leave room for God’s wrath. There are times when we need to let Him settle the score. But if we can leave room for God’s wrath, I rea­soned, can we not, when facing other challenges, leave room for His other attributes? For His power? For His grace? For His intervention? I underlined the words leave room for God and have leaned on them ever since.

I cannot solve every problem, cure every hurt, or avoid every fear, but I can leave room for God. I don’t have the answer to every dilemma, but I can leave room for God to work. I can’t do the impossible, but He is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all” that I could ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20). The Lord delights in the impossible.

Robert J. Morgan, The Red Sea Rules. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001, p. 50 – 51.