December 17

“Suppose a friend should commit something to our keeping, receiving from us every assurance that we would keep it safe, and then go away and worry over it as we worry over the things we commit to God....Would we not finally be inclined to hand the thing back to our friend and say,  ‘Since it is very plain that you do not trust me, had you not better take care of your things yourself?’” Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 12/4

How many times did we have to stand by and let our toddlers handle things themselves because they insisted even though we knew they would not succeed?  Often times this is the only way they could learn, but we were never far away, ready to lend a hand or rescue them from their little adventure.  But Hannah is talking about the things only God can handle by Himself--things we have no control over.  We have no choice but to trust Him, yet we continue to worry about them.  This worry then always gets in the way.  It will either cause us to interfere, or at the very least distract us from being useful to God.  I believe those times that we feel the most lost and abandoned may very well be those times God has said, “Since it is very plain that you do not trust me, had you not better take care of your things yourself?”  Perhaps this is a wake-up call for us to examine our own actions.  Has our worry led us into the pit we’ve found ourselves?  Has our attempt to wrestle control out of God’s Hand put us in this fix?  Let us then, be very careful in prayer so that we leave the matter with God.

“Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!  Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.  For the wicked shall be cut off; but those who wait for the LORD shall possess the land.”  Psalm 37:8, 9