The story is told about a little river.

The little river said, “I can become a big river.” It worked hard, but there was a big rock. The river said, “I’m going to get around this rock.” The little river pushed and pushed, and since it had a lot of strength, it got itself around the rock.

Soon the river faced a big wall, and the river kept pushing this wall. Eventually, the river made a canyon and carved a way through. The growing river said, “I can do it. I can push it. I’m not going to let down for anything.”

Then there was an enormous forest. The river said, “I’ll go ahead anyway and just force these trees down.” And the river did.

The river, now powerful, stood on the edge of an enormous desert with the sun beating down. The river said, “I’m going to go through this desert.” But the hot sand began to soak up the whole river. The river said, “Oh no, I’m going to do it and I’m going to get myself through this desert.” But the river soon had drained into the sand until it was a small mud pool.

Then the river heard a voice from above: “Just surrender. Let me lift you up. Let me take over.”

The river said, “Here I am. Take me!”

The sun lifted up the river and made the river into a huge cloud. The sun carried the river over the desert and let the cloud rain down and made the fields far away fruitful and rich.

There will be moments in our lives when we stand before a desert and want to do it ourselves. But there is the small voice that comes to us reminding us, “Let go. Surrender. I will make you fruitful. Yes, trust me.”

Let this story ends with a quote: “Work as if everything depended upon work and pray as if everything depended upon prayer.” Yes, let us do our level best, and let God take care of the rest. Amen.

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This story was copied from my church bulletin of 27 September 2015.