God's not the White Rabbit

Have you ever woken up and felt like the day was already out of control before your feet even hit the floor?

You overslept. You can't find your keys. Your phone is going off. Work is already on fire, and your mind is running in ten different directions trying to catch up.

In this solo episode of Unrelated Sisters: Truth & Grace Conversation, Shannon shares one of those mornings—and the funny thought that stopped her in the middle of the chaos: God isn't in Heaven running around like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland yelling, "Shannon's late! Shannon's late!"

Our chaos doesn't create chaos in Heaven.

God is still on the throne. He isn't surprised by the morning that surprised us, and He isn't asking us to get everything under control before coming to Him. Sometimes He's simply waiting for us to stop long enough to say:

"Lord, I love You. Thank You for this day."

Through the stories of Jesus calming the storm, Martha becoming overwhelmed by "many things," and Jesus Himself withdrawing from the crowds to pray, this episode is an invitation to discover peace in the middle of real life—not after everything finally settles down.

Sometimes we ask God to turn our day around when He's trying to turn our hearts around.

📖 BIBLE VERSES FROM THIS EPISODE

Psalm 46:10 — Be Still

"Be still, and know that I am God."

You don't have to get everything under control before you acknowledge that God is in control.

Mark 4:35–41 — Jesus Calms the Storm

Jesus and the disciples were in the same boat, experiencing the same storm—but they responded very differently.

The presence of a storm didn't remove the presence of Jesus.

Peace isn't necessarily the absence of chaos. Sometimes peace is knowing Who is in the boat with you.

Philippians 4:6–7 — Prayer, Thanksgiving & Peace

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Before telling God everything that's wrong, stop and remember what's still good.

Thank You for another morning.

Thank You for another breath.

Thank You for another opportunity.

Thank You for being with me today.

Gratitude doesn't deny the chaos. It changes the posture of our heart inside the chaos.

Luke 10:38–42 — Martha & Mary

Jesus tells Martha:

"Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things..."

Sometimes our problem isn't that we're doing bad things.

We're simply trying to do all the things.

Serving. Working. Leading. Helping. Fixing. Planning. Caring for everybody else.

Jesus reminds us not to become so consumed with doing that we forget to sit with Him.

Isaiah 26:3 — A Steadfast Mind

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you."

Your body may need to move quickly while your spirit remains anchored.

You can handle something urgent without allowing urgency to control your heart.

Luke 5:15–16 — Jesus Withdrew to Pray

Even when people needed Him and crowds were waiting:

"Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

If Jesus intentionally stepped away to spend time with the Father, we shouldn't feel guilty about making room for God in the middle of our responsibilities.

Romans 12:2 — Renew Your Mind

"Be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Sometimes God changes our circumstances.

Sometimes He changes our perspective.

And sometimes He gives us peace while absolutely nothing around us has changed yet.

Matthew 11:28 — Come to Jesus

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Jesus doesn't say, "Get everything together and then come."

Just come.

❤️ ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THIS WEEK

This episode is especially for the squirrelly people.

The planners.

The fixers.

The leaders.

The ones whose minds wake up with 47 tabs already open.

The people everyone calls when something goes wrong.

God isn't asking you to stop caring or stop being responsible.

He's inviting you to stop carrying responsibility without Him.

When tomorrow morning comes, before the phone, before work, before the list, and before your mind starts racing, take a moment and pray:

"Lord, I love You. Thank You for this day. Order my steps. Order my thoughts. Help me recognize You today."

Your circumstances may not immediately change.

But your heart can.

💡 WISDOM TO CARRY WITH YOU

Your chaos doesn't create chaos in Heaven.

God wasn't caught off guard by the morning that caught you off guard.

Peace isn't always the absence of a storm. Sometimes it's knowing Who is in the boat.

Gratitude doesn't deny chaos; it changes the posture of your heart inside it.

You can handle urgent things without allowing urgency to take over your spirit.

Don't become so busy doing things for Jesus that you forget to spend time with Jesus.

And maybe the biggest reminder:

Sometimes we're asking God to turn the day around when God wants to turn us around.

🙏 A SIMPLE MORNING PRAYER

Lord, I love You.

Thank You for this day.

Before I give my attention to everything that needs me today, I give my attention to You.

Order my thoughts.

Order my steps.

Guard my heart and my words.

Help me respond instead of react.

Give me wisdom to know what needs my attention and discernment to recognize what isn't mine to carry.

Whatever happens today, remind me that You are with me.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

🙏 PRAYER FOR THE OVERWHELMED HEART

Father,

For the person whose mind is already running ahead of them, bring peace.

For the one carrying responsibilities that feel too heavy, remind them that they don't have to carry today alone.

For the one who woke up late, frustrated, anxious, overwhelmed, or already feeling behind, remind them that You are not panicking.

You are still God.

Calm our minds, bodies, and hearts.

Help us respond instead of react. Give us wisdom for what deserves our attention and discernment about what doesn't belong to us.

And when things don't go according to our plans, remind us that You haven't lost control.

Teach us to walk into our responsibilities carrying Your peace instead of our panic.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

God isn't running around Heaven worried that you're late. He's your Father. He's already there. So before you start running—sit with Him.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Lord Jesus, I come to you today in prayer. I come to you with a grateful heart and a thankful mind. I hope today's episode comes across as your words and as your guidedness to me and to everyone around me. I hope that it is guided to the people that need to hear it today, Lord Jesus. I hope that they feel your presence when they listen, Lord Jesus, and that they feel your words and that they understand the message that you are trying to give them, Lord Jesus. I also pray for a couple of our listeners today, Lord Jesus. They know who they are and they know what they are going through, Lord Jesus, and so do you. And I don't want to mention anyone by name, but we have a couple of our daily listeners of our people that have been with us from the beginning that are going through some things in life that are very complicated and very difficult for them. And let's pray that God gives them wisdom and strength and understanding of everything that is about to happen in their lives. Lord, again, I am grateful for this opportunity to share your words, to share your words with the people around the world, with the people that listen from Rockmart and Dalton, Georgia, and all the other places around us, Lord Jesus. We thank you and we praise you and we give you all of the glory, Lord Jesus. Amen. So have you ever woken up and felt like the day was already ahead of you? Hi everybody, and welcome back to Unrelated Sisters Truth and Grace Conversation. Today it's just Shannon. Deb has family things going uh to take care of today, and we pray that they have a wonderful time together and that they love the moments that they spend together, Lord Jesus. Um and as I just started this episode, um, let's talk about it. Okay, um, so have you ever woken up and felt like today was already ahead of you? You know, before your feet hit the floor, you already feel behind. You're late. You can't find something, you can hear your phone buzzing in the other room, which you mean you know that means work is already full of problems this morning. Uh, your mind has 47 tabes open. And somewhere or somehow music is playing from one of them, but you can't figure out which one, and it has definitely got you distracted. Um, you know, I've been accused a time or two of being of being a little squirrely, you know, and some mornings they're squirrely before I even get out the door. But I'm learning something, and I've learned something over the last few days. And um, it started Thursday. I I woke up with my alarm, my phone was going off. I already knew what that meant. Uh, work has just been very chaotic over the last month or so, but it hasn't been so overwhelming that I've felt the need to talk about it. Um, but this last week it's just been it's just been a little rough. Um, you know, so I wake up Thursday morning and my husband's like, and I'll be like, I've got to get up. I need to go by the store. I have to be in another store by nine o'clock to help with interviews. Like, this is just a chaotic day. And then I get up and I get dressed and I run out the door and I forgot my drink and I forgot my um my breakfast and I backed out of the garage and I left. And then Friday morning I get up and I'm like, my alarm goes off, and I wake up and I'm like, oh wait, I don't have to go in that early, so I'm gonna roll back in the bed. So I rolled back in the bed and the day started out okay. Um, and Friday seemed to be a very okay day. Um, I didn't get home till late Friday night. So Saturday morning when my alarm went off, I apparently didn't hear it. I didn't snooze it, it just went off for like an hour. Finally, my husband says, Will you please turn that off? And I was like, Is that mine? And it was mine, it'd been going off since 4.30, and it was now six o'clock. Well, if I'm not up and ready by 5:30, 5:45, I'm late. Right? I'm not gonna make it to work in time. So I get up, I rush to get ready. I don't like rushing to get ready. My phone's going off again, you know, work's on fire again. It just feels like it's on fire a lot lately. But this is what I've learned in the last few days. My chaos doesn't create chaos in heaven when I'm running around saying I'm late, I can't find my keys. What's going on at work again? How am I going to get there and get this took care of? Who's there? Who do I need to give direction to? What is going on? God isn't in heaven running around with me like, oh no, Shannon, you're late again. You know, it made me think about the white rabbit in the Alice in Wonderland movie, looking at his watch and yelling, Shannon's late. Shannon's late. I ain't got time to stop and talk. I'm late. I'm late. I'm late for a very important appointment. I'm late. You know what I learned though? God is still God. He's still sovereign. He's still present in my chaos. He's still very peaceful. And sometimes he's simply waiting for me to stop long enough to say, Lord, I love you. And thank you for this day. Because sometimes the first thing that needs to change isn't my circumstance. It's me. It's me and my chaos. You know, I could tell that same story over and over again about being late for work, about chaos at work, about them not getting things accomplished the shift before and it running over to the next shift. And I could talk about how it's the team that I have to pull together during the day, they they get tired sometimes. They get tired of what they what is expected of them. And it seems like the expectations for them are higher than the expectations for the other shifts because they don't see the consequences of what happens when the other shift doesn't complete what they're doing. But the way I react to it, I think, is the way they react to it. The way if I get upset about what they didn't accomplish, or if I get just frustrated, and I do, because I am definitely human, that my first shift gets frustrated. The difference is that when I finally take a moment to talk to God and to stop my boss, to stop from rushing, to stop my emotions, and just to thank God that I'm allowed to let that go. So when I react in chaos, so does my team, and I have never thought about it like that. When I try to be patient and I try to be calm and I try to not feel chaotic and I try not to get frustrated, but I do. But I also noticed a difference when I didn't get frustrated Saturday, when I walked in with my head held high with good thoughts, because Saturday is when I stopped and I was like, you know what, Lord, I love you and thank you for this day. You know, I'm in the car, I'm rushing, trying to not get a speeding ticket. You know, I look down and there'll be times I'm going way faster than I should be, and I'll let up off the gas. Because physically I'm in my car driving to work, emotionally, and then my thoughts. I have 12 things going on, trying to figure out how to fix what first. And somewhere in that chaos comes the picture of the little white rabbit and that from Allison Wonder Wonderland, running around, checking the clock, screaming he's late, he's late. And I suddenly realized that was me, and that had been me, it's been me for a while now, and that's not God. God isn't in heaven panicking because I overslept. He isn't saying, Well, Shannon didn't wake up on time. There goes my plan for today. God wasn't caught off guard by the morning that caught me completely in disarray. And that thought changed something in me. It changed the way I walked into work on Saturday morning. My first piece of biblical truth that came to me was God doesn't panic. I do, you do, everyone around me does. But God doesn't suddenly discover our problems. We do. Nothing about that morning surprised him. Nothing about the way I've reacted over the last two or three weeks has surprised him. In Psalms 46, 10, it says, be still and know that I am God. You notice what God doesn't say? He doesn't say, get everything under control and then know that I'm there. Know that I'm God. He says, be still. That's difficult when everything in you is screaming. Move it, fix it, hurry, do something. But sometimes the most spiritual things we can do in a chaotic moment is just stop. Just stop for a moment. Not because the problems aren't real, because we need to remember who is God and that I'm not. I'm not God. I can't control everything happening at work. I can't control every person. I can't control the traffic. I can't control unexpected phone calls. I can't control. Apparently, I can't control even whether I hear my alarm. But I can stop and remember that God is God. You know, sometimes our body tells us things that we don't know, tells us things that we don't understand. Because you deserve it. So in Mark 4, 35 through 41, it tells the story of Jesus and the disciples as they cross the Sea of Galilee. A storm comes up on them and the waves are crashing into the boat, water is coming in, and everybody looks around. And where is Jesus? He's sleeping. Think about the difference between Jesus and the disciples. They were in the same boat in the same storm. There was the same waves, but completely different responses. The disciples are basically saying, Jesus, Jesus, don't you care? We're going to drown. And Jesus gets up and says, Peace. Be still. Then the winds die down. The important truth about this is Jesus' peace wasn't determined by the storm. And neither does ours have to be. Sometimes we think peace means work calmed down. The kids behaved. Nobody called out. Traffic was clear. The bills got paid. The diagnosis changed. The relationship got fixed. But biblical peace is deeper than circumstance. Peace is knowing who is in the boat when the storm is still happening. Let's sit on that just a moment. Peace is knowing who is in the boat when the storm is still happening. That's what I'm learning. That's what I've learned this week. That's what I've learned over the last couple weeks. I don't necessarily need Jesus to remove every chaotic, chaotic thing in my morning. Sometimes I need him to call me in the middle of it. I need to remember who is God and that I am not. Just giving one small sin. He also says 30-second conversation. What if, before trying to fix everything, we stop for 30 seconds and we say, Lord, I love you. Thank you for this day. Let's talk about that just for a second. And it only took less than 30 seconds to say those few words. But Lord, I love you. That shows we have a relationship with Him. And thank you for this day. That's gratitude. Before I've asked Him to fix anything, I've acknowledged Him. No, in Philippians 4, 6 through 7, do not be anxious about anything. But in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And then comes the promise. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, or guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. There's something important there. It's very important that you understand that. It says, with thanksgiving. Sometimes we're so busy telling God everything that's wrong that we forget to thank Him for what's right. What about the fact you woke up? You were able to get out of the bed. Thank you. What about the fact that you have a job to be late for? Thank you. What about the fact that you have a car to lose the keys to? Thank you. What about that you have a group of people that work for you, that work underneath you, that depend on you? Thank you. You have another day. Thank you. Gratitude doesn't deny the chaos. It reminds chaos that it doesn't get to determine the condition of my heart. Gratitude doesn't deny chaos. Chaos is a part of life. It is. It just reminds chaos that it doesn't get to determine the condition of my heart. Let's talk about Martha for a minute. I relate to Martha in the Bible. Um, I relate to her quite a bit, I feel like. You know, Martha was a little squirrely too. If you go and read Luke's 10, 38 through 42, you're gonna see the story of where Jesus came to visit, and Martha is doing all the things, right? It's all good things, necessary things. She's preparing dinner or preparing food and she's collecting water and making this and doing that, and you know, she's doing all the things that a good woman should do. She's serving Jesus, she's prayering, she's working, and Mary's sitting at Jesus' feet, you know, and eventually Martha gets frustrated because she's doing everything, and Mary's just sitting there. And when Martha gets frustrated, she's like, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? And Jesus says, Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things. Did y'all understand that line? Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, and that's the line. It's many things. Does it not sound like yes? Definitely sounds like me. We're not necessarily doing bad things, we're just trying to do all the things: work, family, church, ministry, appointments, messages, responsibilities, helping people, solving problems, planning, serving, leading, all the things. And Jesus isn't necessarily saying stop caring about your responsibilities, but he is saying don't become so consumed with doing for me that you forget to sit with me. Sometimes good things it's okay to put on the bike burner. Sometimes it's okay to take 30 seconds and spend with Jesus. Martha had Jesus physically inside our house and was still overwhelmed. How often do we have the Holy Spirit within us and still behave as though we're handling the day alone? That we're all by ourselves when He's really there trying to help us. You know, um, let's take just a few minutes and let's talk about peace. Peace isn't passtivity, the distinction matters. Trust God doesn't mean, well, I'm late, so Jesus can't find my keys. Let's try that again. This is trusting God doesn't mean, well, I'm late, so Jesus, can you find my keys? You still look for the keys, you still call work, you still handle the problems, you still be a leader, you still apologize when necessary, you still take responsibility when you need to, but you do it from a different posture. You can handle urgent things without allowing urgency to take over your spirit. Isaiah 26, 3. You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you. So I guess the question is where is your mind? Because my body can be moving quickly while my spirit remains anchored. I can walk quickly without my soul running. I can deal with problems without becoming the problem. I can say, okay, Lord, this morning didn't go according to plan, but apparently we're going to we're doing it different today. So let's go. And it's okay to step away if that's what you need to do. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, if you need a minute, it's okay. Jesus had people constantly needing him. There was always a crowd when they knew he was coming. The disciples wouldn't make a move without his authority. There were sick people who wanted to be healed and hurting people who wanted to understand. There was people asking questions. There was the people who didn't believe him, the ones that criticized him. There was people wanting miracles, and yet scripture repeatedly shows Jesus withdrawing to pray. You know, in Luke 5. 15 through 16 crowds were coming, people needed healing, there was legitimate work to do, but Jesus all Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. If Jesus made room to be with the Father, when people were waiting on him, why do we think everything will collapse if we take five minutes with God? I know sometimes we say I don't have time to pray this morning. Maybe the morning when we think we don't have time are the mornings we need it most. It's not necessary to pray for an hour. Maybe it's Jesus, walk with me. Lord, order my thoughts today. Give me wisdom today. Guard my mouth today. Help me respond instead of react today. Remind me that you're here with me. It's not always a let me tell you all my problems conversation with God. Or let me cry to you about my situation. Or it's not always about he knows what's going on. Sometimes it's just those few small words. Acknowledging that he's there. I think my favorite I love that all of those is help me respond instead of react. Or remind me that you're still here. And you know, some days the day doesn't turn around. You know, that's something I've learned. Sometimes I ask God to turn my day around, but maybe God wants to turn me around instead. The work problems might still be there. I might still be late. Traffic may still be traffic, and people may still be people. But I can walk into the exact same circumstances with a different heart. And that's transformation. Romans 12, 2. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Sometimes God changes our situation. Sometimes he changes our perspective. And sometimes he gives us peace that makes absolutely no sense considering what's happening around us. That's why Philip Philippians call it calls it peace that transcends all understanding. Because somebody should be able to look at your situation and think, how are you this calm? And your answer can simply be because I'm not handling it alone. For the people like me, for the people who wake up squarely, for the people who have 47 tiles open and music playing that they can't find. This is for those people whose brains wake up running before you ever hit the floor. The planner, the fixer, the leader, the people, the person everybody calls when something goes wrong. The person carrying everybody else's problems. The person who wakes up thinking about what didn't get finished yesterday and what has to happen today. God isn't asking you to stop being responsible. He's inviting you to stop carrying responsibility without him. Matthew 11, 28. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Notice Jesus says, Come to me, not get your life together and then come see me. Come tired, come late, come frustrated. Come with one shoe on. Hopefully, you have matching socks. Come while you're looking for your keys, with your hair not fixed, and while work is still on fire. Just come. Just come. For the next seven mornings, try something simple before checking your phone, before thinking about work, before mentally going through the list, before allowing the white rabbit to take over. Pause. Take one breath and say, Lord, I love you. Thank you for this day. Order my steps. Order my thoughts. Help me recognize you today. Then get up. It doesn't guarantee an easy day, but it establishes who gets the first word over your day. The first time you snooze the alarm. Say those words. Maybe peace isn't having a perfectly organized morning. And maybe peace isn't everything happening according to schedule. Maybe peace isn't finding your keys immediately. And maybe peace isn't realizing God isn't running around heaven screaming, you're late, you're late. And he's still with you. And when your heart starts running ahead of you, you can stop. You can say, Lord, I love you. Thank you for this day. And somehow the world doesn't seem quite as out of control anymore. Not necessarily because everything changed, because it probably hasn't. But because you remembered who is in control. And that gives you a peace, gives you peace in mind. Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the day. Before we ask you to fix anything, change anything, provide anything, or solve anything. We simply want to say we love you. And thank you. Thank you for another morning, for another breath. Thank you for another opportunity to walk with you. Lord, you know how quickly our minds can start running. You know the responsibilities we carry. You know the things happening at work, happening inside our own homes, the phone calls we're worried about, the people we're trying to help, the things we can't control. And you know exactly what tomorrow holds before we ever get there. So Jesus, teach us to be still. Jesus, help us to learn to be still. When our minds are racing, anchor our thoughts in you. When our bodies are tense, remind us to breathe. And when our hearts are overwhelmed, remind us that we are not carrying this day alone. Give us wisdom for what actually needs our attention. Give us discernment about what doesn't belong to us. And help us respond instead of react. Help us extend grace when other people are having chaotic mornings too, and when things don't go according to our plans. Remind us that you haven't lost control. Lord, calm our minds, calm our bodies, calm our hearts, not so that we can avoid our responsibilities, but that's so we can walk into them carrying your peace instead of our panic. And tomorrow morning, before the world gets our attention, remind us to give you our thoughts, our thoughts first. Lord, I love you and thank you for this day. Whatever today holds, walk with me through it in your loving name. Amen. So before you start running, just sit with him a moment.