Beloved, I want you to visualize going to your favorite amusement park. You get on the rollercoaster, fastened in and just like that, nervousness grasps you. Your normal response is to improve your grip and reposition yourself to get some control, so you grasp the security bars tighter.
Or maybe you’re the one who keep your hands wide open and enjoy the experience.
Beloved, if you’re anything like me, you grip the security bar, close your eyes while tightening every muscle in your body while millions of thoughts of how to survive go through your mind. It’s in those moments I’m regretting I got on. But after it’s all over, I’m glad I did and want to go on again!!!
Beloved, this is an example of how we tend to live out our lives with God.
Either with a closed fist “wanting to be in control of all that’s happening out of fear”. This is nothing more than mere transitory security. Or, you have your hands wide open with no reservations of the unknown and no expectations, knowing that a Sovereign God has your life in His hands. And, has created all the threads and qualities of your life so complicatedly, like beautiful well-hung drapery.
While the prior example may seem to present the most comfortable situation, I can tell you that God is after the latter. He’s always after your faith!!!
Romans 8:28 tells us He works all things for your good!!!
Beloved, God wants you to completely have confidence in Him.
While it’s easy to say you believe that God is Lord and you have faith in Him, He’s requesting you to also put your confidence in Him for all the complications you face in life.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NLT) says:
7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
There’s one phrase that you’ll normally hear in most types of relationships is “just trust me.”
As a Minister, I say that a lot to many people when I’m trying to get them to try something new that’s extraneous to them. As a Minister, I would never put my fellow followers in harm’s way or have them try something that would upset, wound, or offend them, it’s the reverse!!!
I want them to find gratification from this something new.
Beloved, it’s the same with God. He wants to do good to us, it’s His desire, while also transporting to Himself the honor He’s due.
Now, my question to you is: What Door(s) Are You Knocking On To Put Your Confidence In?
Not long ago, First Lady, Donece asked me to go to lunch with her. She wanted to take me to this fast food restaurant that didn’t serve the food I liked. I went back and forth with her trying to persuade her to select something we both liked. But because she knows me well, she knew that they had something that I would love despite my past experiences with this type of food. I finally gave in, and you know what? I ended up loving this specific sandwich she wanted me to try!!!
Beloved, all along she kept saying to me, “Just trust me.” You see, I thought I already knew what was best for me, so I wanted to regulate in other words “control” the situation.
This is what God is saying to us daily because He knows us!!!
He’s saying just to trust Him!!!
Trust Him with our:
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jobs
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children/grandchildren
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finances
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marriage
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family relations
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school
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health
With absolutely everything!!! Without questions!!!
God is saying to you: “Stop holding on!!! Let Go!!! I Got You!!! Take hold of my hand and just trust Me!!!”
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) says:
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.
Now I must admit, this area is a little scary in terms of understanding this.The unidentified or strange can be startling!!!
But when the Lord reestablished my relationship with Him, that was one of the first and scariest things He had me do!!!
To surrender control and select to have faith over fear was the key. It was essential for my transformation. I wouldn’t be doing ANY of what I’m doing today without that step of faith.
Beloved, it absolutely was the best decision of my entire life.
Sure, I might have closed my eyes tight and turned my head back, but my hands were wide open.
Many of you know my past!!! I’m sure many of you are amazed at my transformation. Let me tell you from my life experience, God is able-if you allow Him to take control.
Beloved, is the cry of your heart, “God, have Your way?”
Or, are you still repudiating to let Him have complete control?
My question to you is, why are you so afraid to let go and let God?
There’s a song sung by the late Rev. James Cleveland called “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired” the words of the song are awesome.
“I don’t feel no ways tired,
I’ve come too far from where I started from.
Nobody told me that the road would be easy,
I don’t believe He brought me this far to leave me.”
If you allow God to take control, He will not drop you off and leave you.
Let me tell you Beloved, even though at times countless methods of perceived trials come up against you, you may feel all alone or no one is paying attention to what’s going on in your life, just remember God is in control of everything that’s going on. Everything is at the mercy of God, and nothing can touch or overtake you without almighty God’s authorization or endorsement.
When your life is held in the palms of His hands, you have no reason to be frightened or stressed out. Allow yourself to get to that place where you say repeatedly, “I don’t believe You brought me this far to leave me.” Not because you know what your future holds, but because you serve a great God who does.
Now let me tell you right here, God won’t pry open your hands to receive His plans for your life. But, He’ll always accept the invitation if you let Him in.
Beloved, you must have complete confidence in God.
Hebrews 11:1-2 (NLT) says:
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.
In the Bible, there was a former prostitute named Rahab who lived in a city that God commanded the Israelites to destroy and take over.
When Joshua and his men came into the city, terror gripped the people who lived there. But Rahab showed a significant amount of courage and faith. She didn’t know their God, but she heard about and His mighty acts. Instead of running, and showing terror, she risked her own life by hiding the two Hebrew spies in her home.
Beloved, it was her act of faith that allowed God’s plans to succeed, and her entire family was spared!!! Sure, she could have easily turned the men in or hardened her heart against this foreign God. She could have rejected them by just saying, “No.”
But she didn’t!!!
She allowed her faith, her confidence to be bigger than her fear.
Little did she know that God had a great plan for her life!!!
Beloved, she was a woman shamed and looked down upon in society!!! But not in the eyes of God!!! He saw who she would become through His grace, mercy, and power.
God ended up blessing Rahab, and she became the great-grandmother to King David!!! And eventually, her name was written down in the actual lineage leading up to the birth of King Jesus!!!
Now, if Rahab was able to open her hands at that moment and trust an unknown God, then how much more can you trust a God that you do know?!!! 😀
To God Be the Glory.
Have a blessed week Everyone.
