Journey of Faith: “The Unraveling That Reveals God” - August 19, 2025

 bible/readings/081925

I used to work safety at a massive industrial site—3,000 employees, our own fire department, EMTs, even a full infirmary. On paper, we were ready for anything.

So we ran a full-scale emergency drill. We coordinated with local responders—fire, police, hospitals. Everyone had a role. Everyone said they were prepared.

Then the drill began.

Employees showed up with trauma makeup and fake wounds. And even though we all knew it was a simulation, panic spread. ERs were overwhelmed. First responders froze. Radios failed. The plan unraveled.

I stood in the middle of it all, watching the confusion, feeling the weight of responsibility settle heavy on my shoulders. And beneath that—something deeper. The ache of helplessness. I had done everything right. And still, it wasn’t enough.

That moment never left me. Not because of the breakdown, but because of what it exposed. It wasn’t just a failed drill. It was a revelation.

It reminded me of our walk with God. Of Gideon, hiding in the winepress, convinced he was too small for the task. Of Peter, sinking beneath the waves, reaching for Jesus with a heart full of fear. These weren’t stories of flawless execution. They were stories of surrender. Of men who met God not in their strength, but in their unraveling.

We all have our drills. Our plans. Our strategies to keep chaos at bay. But sometimes, God lets the radios fail. Not to shame us—but to invite us. To remind us that He is not found in perfect control, but in the quiet surrender that follows.

This is the rhythm of the faith walk: not certainty, but trust. Not flawless execution, but daily surrender. God doesn’t wait for us to get it right—He meets us in the middle of the mess. In the hangar. In the classroom. In the parish hall. Wherever our plans fall short and our hearts cry out.

Here’s the grace: when our plans collapse, God remains.

He steps into the confusion. He reaches for us in the sinking. He whispers to Gideon, “I will be with you.” He lifts Peter from the waves. And He looks into our astonishment—like He did with the disciples—and says, “For God, all things are possible.”

This is the God who walks with us through drills and diagnoses, through heartbreak and hope. Not waiting for perfection, but drawing near in surrender.

So let the failure be a doorway.
Let the ache become a prayer.
Let the unraveling lead not to despair, but to deeper trust.

Because this is the journey: not a path of perfect preparedness, but a walk of holy dependence. And every collapse becomes an invitation to walk more closely with the One who never fails

Prayer of Surrender in the Chaos 

Lord, when my plans collapse and my strength fails, meet me in the ache. 

Let the confusion become a doorway to trust. Lift me from the waves, speak peace into the panic, and remind me again: You are with me. Not in my control, but in my surrender. 

Amen.