Turn It Over To God

Tue, 15 Jan 2019

‘Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you.’ Psalm 55:22 NIV

Sometimes the best thing to do is—turn the situation over to God. ‘Yes, but what about all those go-getters who rise with the sun, skip breakfast, and break records while I’m just “giving it to God”?’ you ask. Good question. Look at Jesus; He didn’t get started until He was thirty. What about all those ‘wasted’ years? He left them to God. And how did He react to those who heard His message, shrugged, and walked away? He left them to God. And what about those nit-picking Pharisees who gave Him so much grief? He left them to God as well. In The Finishing Touch, Charles Swindoll describes a time in his ministry when he felt driven and drained by never-ending demands. He writes: ‘If folks weren’t changing, I felt responsible. If some drifted, somehow I was at fault. If there wasn’t continual growth, I acted as if I needed to make it happen. If a sermon failed to ring with clarity and power, I struggled all of Monday and half of Tuesday. Talk about wasted energy! Time has helped; so has age. Virtually all of the things that once stole my joy and assaulted my motivation—I just leave to God. Don’t I care? Of course I care. But those cares are now placed in the hands of One who can handle them. What once bothered me, I’ve learned to give over to Him who doesn’t mind being bothered. Whereas criticism used to cripple me for days, I now do my best to sift, shift, and sail. I learn what I can—and turn the rest over to God.’