This morning, as I sat down with my Heavenly Father, I just began to share with Him, all the things that He already knows, of course ?…. but I shared these things with Him from the deep places of my heart—a daughter who needed to sit down and talk with her Heavenly Father about a few things… It’s the safest place I can run to. ?
“Father, there are many things I can take “control of” and “take hold of” in my life, because You gave that “responsibility” to me, for those certain things… and You give me the ability that I need to handle those certain things.
…but there are also many, many, many things that are outside of my control, and outside of my responsibility...
And they’re not mine to take hold of, they’re mine to “let go of”…to place right back into Your hands.
…And they’re Your responsibly, and they’re not meant to be mine to carry.
You don’t ask me to carry the weight of those things on my shoulders.
You don’t ask me to take on the burden of the things I can’t control, the things I’ve not been given responsibility over.”
You know it would weigh me down into the ground, You know it would only crush me. ??♀️
I see this scene of a little girl, maybe 4 years old… and she’s hiking with her family, and she tries to pick up this HUGE, heavy backpack that doesn’t belong to her. Hers is the little pink backpack with the sparkles and the teddy bear sticking out of the top. It’s got her name on it, and it’s what she was given to carry for this part of the hike….it’s what she’s responsible for… but she’s tried to pick up this heavy backpack that’s not meant for her to carry, and it begins to crush her. But her Daddy quickly picks it up off her shoulders before she falls to the ground under the weight of it, and He hands her back the backpack He gave to her to carry, and He dusts the dirt off her knees, and gives her a pat on the head… she learns her lesson, and they keep walking…?
Father, You simply ask me to hand these things back over to You, and to trust You with all of the things that I cannot control.
You ask me to pray, to seek You, to pray into the things that burden my heart…yes, to talk with You about those things…You will let me know what my responsibility is, what my role is…
But then You remind me that I have to let go of the things I cannot control into Your hands, as I see Your hands there waiting there, open before me, patiently waiting for me to hand them back over to You so that You can take them and do things that will cause me to walk in awe and wonder of You. ✨
Oh, the things that only You can do. ?✍?
You simply ask me to remember and know that You have control over all of the things I do not… and peace will come, and the burden will be lifted from my shoulders so that I can keep walking.
Even those things that others have been given responsibility over…
“But what if they fail, God? What if they don’t take hold of the things You’ve given them responsibility over? What then? What about the cause and effect of that? What about the consequences?“
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”—Romans 8:28
Yes, God. You work all things together for good, for those who love You.
And as His beloved children, we are included in that promise.
God, You are trustworthy. Nothing is too big for You.
And You take what is too heavy for us, and You make it light again so that we can keep on walking—walking in awe and wonder✨… as we follow You in this crazy adventure…
“I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself,
Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”—Jeremiah 10:23
“The man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed. He will be like a tree planted by water; it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.”—Jeremiah 17:7-8
“I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire and the flame will not burn you.”—Isaiah 43:2
“Who has performed and accomplished it,
Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’”—Isaiah 41:4“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe…”—Hebrews 12:28
Thank You for always being there, Father. That I can always turn to You, that I can always talk with You about the things that begin to burden my heart, the things that begin to feel too heavy. And You teach me and You show me how to walk in such a way, that as I walk with You, and as I do my part (and only what You give me responsibility over), I’ll get to see life unfold in such a way, that I’ll be filled with awe and wonder of what You do and how You work it all out, and how You bring it all together… in a way that only You can.✨
-Heather ?