Trust and let Go
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Difficult Journey
Is anyone listening to me…
As we navigate our walk with God, we soon realize that our pathways don’t always go in the direction we thought they would. There are many twists and turns that life can throw at us, distracting our goals and purposes for God. Living the life as a Christian is one of the hardest journeys we will ever take, but the most rewarding.
To truly follow God is quite the undertaking and at times we feel like we are all alone and lost. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could have a face to face meeting every Monday morning and talk to God planning out our goals for the week? Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen until we all get to Heaven, so restricted access seems to be the norm for most of us because we must walk by Faith instead of by sight. God will eventually take those “blinders” off of us, when we trust in Him completely. Easier said than done, right?
Even though we talk to God in prayer, we read the bible and have a relationship with Him, at times, we still feel ignored or passed over, as if God isn’t listening to us right now. The reality is, He is. Sometimes silence is a good thing, and we must always keep in mind that He is working everything out for us behind the scenes. The highs, the lows, the loneliness, don’t despair, we all go through it. God never leaves us, and He isn’t too busy to hear your cry and feel your tears. Nothing is ever wasted with God.
Trust
It’s so unfair at times…
He knows all and remembers all. Life can feel very unjust at times, and we feel like the world is deceiving us constantly, throwing us in this direction and that direction, but God rewards those that are diligent even through the difficult seasons. That’s the thing with seasons, they don’t ever last that long and then another one comes along right behind it, fresher, brighter and a new beginning. Spring comes alive after Winter, Summer is full of fun activities with friends, Fall is spectacular with all of its displays of colors and cooler weather and then Winter finishes off the year with the Holidays, warmth, joy and family time.
Trusting in God can be extremely difficult, especially if you have never attempted it before. It is a natural inclination to do everything on our own, taking charge and running the show. As a child of God, you soon realize, that is not the way that God handles anything. He wants us to turn over every aspect of our lives to Him and let go of it all, so He can maneuver it correctly. He already knows the end from the beginning, what we are good at, the gifts and talents that He has placed in us and what we are capable of achieving.
The bible clearly states that we must lay down our lives, deny ourselves and follow Jesus. That is a huge undertaking to not follow our feelings and thoughts, especially when we get hurt by someone or something else. It is a natural process to want to seek revenge or handle things our way, but God knows that we could find ourselves in worse trouble than before if we aren’t careful.
Now what
Why is this taking forever…
So, how do we let go and trust God in all of our affairs? I can tell you from experience, it’s definitely a work in progress. Some days will feel blissful and full of joy and then others will be nothing but struggle and heartache. Confusion and despair can set in and we feel helpless. During those times, we must remember that we are growing and changing into the beautiful person that God knows we can be.
We just can’t see it. So, we cry, complain and sometimes get angry making wrong decisions which can last for months or even years. But then we hear God’s voice calling us back and we put down our pride, shed more tears, beat ourselves up, and go back to God in prayer and seek His help. He knows we can’t conquer it all in one day, one week or even in one year. But if we keep on going and never give up, we will complete our journey.
Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare when the hare boasted on and on about how fast he was and could out-run, out perform everyone? The tortoise knew he was much slower than the Hare, but he kept on going, never straying from his course and eventually won the race. The Hare was much faster yes, but distractions and pride got in his way causing him to lose his way.
God wants us to finish the race He has planned for us, knowing that we were faithful through it all and still came out on top, even when the world continuously tried to keep us down. It became an amazing feat of courage and strength.
What I know to be true is….don’t ever give up! Be the tortoise, keep following God and let Him be the leader of your life. You know the old saying, “Jesus take the wheel". Well, it’s true. We aren’t capable of handling this life on our own and we need God’s help continuously. Stay strong and encouraged, you will eventually get to your goal. God will transform you into the person that you were always meant to be and one day when we meet Him face to face we will hear Him say those words we so long to hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”. You finished the race and you finished victoriously!! Nothing better than that.
“His lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”