Let Go and Let God

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. ⁶ Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

How many times have we heard people tell us to let go and let God?  How many times have we thought to ourselves, that is so much easier said than done and even further to ask ourselves how in the world am I supposed to do that!?!  Sometimes they make it sound so easy and I guess when thinking about it, because of who God is and what He is capable of, it should be.  Yet, somehow when trying to put it into action or take our action out of it, it sometimes seems an impossible thing to do.

Last night I found myself praying to God to help me let go and let Him have what has been troubling me lately.  I asked Him to help me move it beyond my lips to my heart and restore my peace.  I have the knowledge that God is my all in all, that everything I am experiencing He knows and is carrying me in the palm of His hand…but, somehow the worry is still there.  I continue to find myself trying to help, making suggestions or just plain making myself sick because I hate to see the heartache, confusion and even anger being built up. 

There are times when I think I’ve given it (any current situation or circumstance) to Him because I’ll be silent about it, yet I still worry myself sick over it.  Part of me thinks as time passes or I get through each situation it should get easier, but I’m often wrong. I really wish I could sit here and say I’ve found some easy answer to letting go of the things that we can’t control and allowing God to have His way, but sometimes it really is a struggle for me.  Sometimes I feel like I’m climbing up the same mountain and instead of the top getting closer and closer the mountain seem to get taller and taller.  I’m tired of doing and seeing the same things and getting the same stupid results.  I want a lasting change and transformation to what’s going on.

As I was praying I realized that sometimes these storms, even when seemingly longer than life itself, are for a reason.  Each new storm seems to test a different area in my life and new obstacles to overcome or learn from. Even when it wasn’t “my” storm, there was still something that God wanted me to get out of it. 

God is teaching me that before things get to a point that I can’t take it or instead of trying to take things into my own hands that I need to stay in prayer.  If this means each morning I wake I need to pray and give it to Him or ask Him to take it, then that is what I need to do.  My prayers need to be for strength and revelation.  Asking Him to help me see what He wants me to see and to let Him lead the way.  So often I try to figure things out on my own and this only adds to my stress and repeat behavior.  Sometimes we have to learn to be still and wait for God ideas to be given.  It’s certainly not always pleasant and defiantly not always easy.  In fact, it’s often times frustrating and painful, but in the end I am always victorious because I let Him lead the way. 

A pretty familiar, but also helpful, prayer is the serenity prayer.  It’s a prayer that can be said each morning that helps us to trust God for everything and asks Him to guide our paths. 

God grant me the serenity to accept
The things that I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, Not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things
Right if I surrender to His will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.

—— Reinhold Niebuhr.