Letting Go

More than anything else in this world my dog, Frisky, loves to play.  Eating, sleeping, even getting a belly rub comes second to playtime in the back yard.  But most of all he loves to play fetch the stick.  But there's only one problem.  He never wants to let go of the stick.  Over and over I have to tell him to drop it.  Sometimes he does.  Many times he doesn't.  Finally after a lot of cajoling he will lower his head, loosen his bite and let one end of the stick rest on the ground.  After even more cajoling I finally convince him to let it go complete.  But before I have a chance to take it from him he has already picked it up again.  And if I try to snatch it quickly I run the risk of getting my fingers caught between the stick and his teeth, which has happened a time or three.  So what I have to finally do is make him drop it and tell him to back up.  Only then am I able to take it from him and throw it again.

Which reminds me of the way some people (yours truly included) take their problems to God.  We bring them to Him but won't let go of them.  We may set one end down but want to control the other end.  When reminded that we have to let go we finally do only to snatch it back again shortly thereafter.  In the end God has to tell us to let it go and back off.  The point is supposed to be to take it to Him and give it up once and for all.  He have to leave it in His hands and let Him deal with it.  Only when we have done all this will we get what we wanted all along, to have the issue in better hands.

So today I ask you, what problems do you have in your life that you need God to take care of?  Have you left them in God's hands?  Are you ready to leave them there and back off completely.  Only then will you find the solution you want and the peace you need.

I missed the test!

During my senior year in college I was scheduled to take my GRE so I could go to graduate school.  I had chosen to do it later in the year so as to give myself plenty of time to prepare for it.  So when the time came I did my preparation, I registered for the test but I forget to go.   I totally spaced the test.  In fact I got so caught up in classes and work that I didn't even realize I had missed the test for at least a couple of days.  And since I had chosen a later date there wasn't another test time available until long after grad school acceptance letters were sent out.  What was I to do?  I didn't have much of a choice.  So after graduation I decided to stick with it and get an entry level job in my career.  But the interesting thing is that within a year or so I realized that my field was not everything I thought it would be.  I realized it wasn't what I wanted to do the rest of my life.  And through that experience God channeled me towards where I am now.

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  It is amazing how God can use even the greatest mistakes of our lives to lead us into where He wants us and the good He has for us.  But did you ever notice the caveat in the text in Romans? This is a promise specifically for God's followers.  God can use all kinds of circumstances, good and bad, for His good but only if we place ourselves in His hands.  If we let Him lead He will see us through to a bright and glorious future but we have to give Him our lives first.  Please take the time today to give Him your life and trust that He will work out even the worst of your circumstances for good.