"Censureship": Musings on Power, Pride, and Awe

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who provided comments on my last post's story excerpt. Your feedback was appreciated. I hope to return to that work someday, and if I do, I just might post developments on this blog. For those of you who haven't read it, please do so; the more feedback, the better. Now, on with this post:
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WARNING: The word "Musings" in the title means that the following topics might be only loosely related. I think there is a connection, but I might not have done a great job expressing it. Try to bear with me until the end, and see if it makes sense for you.
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'The heavens are telling the glory of God;
With wonders of His work resounds the firmament.
Revealed are His ways by day unto day,
By night that is gone to following night.
In every land abounds the word.
Every ear will hearken; never tongue be dumb.
The heavens are telling the glory of God;
With wonders of His work resounds the firmanent.'

This is a chorus from F. J. Haydn's oratorio The Creation. As far as I can tell, it's based on Psalm 19:1-4:

'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line [or "voice"] goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.' (ESV)

We humans tend to take a lot of pride in our works (architecture, painting, music, writing, etc.), and this is proper to some extent. Our creative impulses are reflections of God's creativity, part of what sets us apart from the animals; recognition of talent and appreciation for our work is good. But if our creativity is a spark of genius, God's is hotter and brighter than any star we can imagine. His creation speaks for itself, revealing its grandeur to all. How many of us can say the same about our works?

This idea is echoed in Job 38-41, particularly 38:4-7:
'"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"'

God's power and majesty are incomprehensible. He is the Creator, the Lord of All, the Ancient of Days. This makes the fact that He loves and cares for us even more astounding.
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'But [God] said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."' (2 Corinthians 12:9a)

I've been struggling a lot this semester with the idea of surrender. While I certainly haven't had things as badly as some of my friends have, the severity of their predicaments does not change the fact that this has been a rough semester for me, both mentally and emotionally. I have discussed the empathetic (or maybe just pathetic?) and intellectual factors of my distress before, so I won't repeat them here. The point is, I know that I have to turn things over to God, because I can't handle them myself. But that's not easy to do. The desire to control things is strong, even though I know that my having such control is both impossible and a bad idea.
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I guess what I'm trying to get at with this post is that we have to remember several things: (1) God is good; (2) despite that, life sucks sometimes; (3) God is in control; (4) God has a plan; (5) because God has a plan, we can have confidence that the sucky parts of life will pass in time. In light of those things, it seems to me that neglecting to turn our troubles over to the Lord is the height of foolishness. That's not to say we should be lazy and never try to do anything. But there are things that we can't handle, and the best way to deal with those is to submit them to God. It's not easy, and I certainly haven't mastered it, but I think that has to be our ultimate goal.

'Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.' (Colossians 3:12-17)

'Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.' (Philippians 4:4-7)