
"Unlimited in power, unrivaled in majesty, and not thwarted by anything outside Himself, our God is in complete control of all circumstances, causing or allowing them for His own good purposes and plans to be fulfilled exactly as He has foreordained."
It's like putting your destination into a GPS: a few different routes come up, and the one that is highlighted first is generally the fastest and the one with the fewest disturbances in your drive. But what if you want to take the scenic route? So, that's what you choose. God has run through all the different directions things can go, but in the end, you have a choice. So, if you choose your way, that is fine, but He will still get your attention somehow. God has a handle on it, in the end of it all.
I was at the grocery store one time, and I was waiting to pay while the workers were sacking my groceries and putting them in the basket. I noticed that some of the bags could be adjusted so more could go in before stacking them. Then I just put a few bags in afterward because I saw them sitting there. Then I let the workers do their job, but the sacker just started stacking the bags up on the counter and not in the basket, so I grabbed the bags and put them in, paid, and left.
I thought about that scenario throughout the rest of that day… We can bring our things to the Lord and let Him have them and do with them what needs to be done. Then, once we see things are different or slowed down or can be adjusted, we get involved. In our helping, we may have made adjustments that weren’t needed. God may then also see we are ready for what He has, so He stops and lets us continue on.
2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent.”
When we pray and ask God to handle things, we need to be confident that He will handle them and not try to help.
So often, we want our independence. We know we can handle things and don’t need anyone to help out because we have it.
I have never been good at asking for help. I will struggle and struggle, scratch and claw my way through before asking for help, even knowing that I should be asking for help.
But sometimes, when it comes to needing help, we don’t know how to ask because for so long, we have handled things ourselves. There comes a point where you have to ask for help.
We do have friends and family we can call in those times of need, but we don’t want to bother them, so we don’t. But let us not ever forget that there is One who is with us through it all, and that is the Lord. He is with us and waiting to help us and may already be helping us; we just don’t see it.
Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
God's ways and thoughts are not might so me trying to keep control and handle things on my own may be more detrimental than just letting Him handle it. Trusting God is what is needed.
Allowing God to handle things brings us relief. We can breathe easier because we have learned to trust that the Lord has everything under control. Of course, learning this and actually letting God handle things is easier said than done.
The Bible directs us to lean into the Lord and learn to trust Him. It says in Matthew 6:33-34, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Allow God to lead and guide you."