Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? (Luke 12:24-26)
Before I met my husband, I wasn’t a believer in love at first sight. But when I first glanced at him, a feeling of attraction and urgency filled me. I told my roommate I would one day marry the man across the room. I prayed. Finally, he approached asking, “Why do you keep staring at me?” I gave him my phone number, then prayed but worried he wouldn’t call. There was no need to worry.
Many situations in our lives depend on others. We tend to worry and be controlling when God wants us to pray, love, and depend on Him. But how do we know He’ll take care of us? Consider the ravens. They pick meat off dead bones. Even those with poor self-esteem realize they’re worth more than a raven. God takes care of ravens, so how much more will he take care of us?
But how do we know God will do a better job of leading us through life than we can do on our own? First, he gives us power. Which one of us can add a single hour to our lives by worrying? Not one. God can do it easily. Secondly, He gives us purpose. Consider the raven. It cannot sow, reap, or build. It completely depends on God, and God uses ravens for good purposes. Noah sent out a raven to see if the flood waters had receded. It kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. It was a raven that brought Elijah food during a three-year famine. If God uses ravens for His purpose, how much more can He use us. He expects us to sow, reap, and build – to do what we can do, but He adds to that. He brings people into our lives and arranges circumstances that will help us advance His kingdom.
Dearest heavenly Father, I place my life in your hands and trust you. Help me not worry. Give me the power of Your Holy Spirit and arrange for the right circumstances and people to come into my life to advance Your kingdom. Thank you for Your love and grace. In Christ’s name I pray, amen.
Relinquishing control is a difficult thing. Because of free will there are certain things that we control. But worry should not be one of them. This is a hard one for me. When something happens that causes me to worry, I have a hard time just immediately giving it to God. For some reason I need to go through a process in my mind before I can give it to God. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. One thing that I do know is I am doing a better job of going to God when there is a problem and praying about it. Many times I can feel God lifting the burden from me. When I pray I can feel peace. I trust God to take good care of me, my family and friends.
Thanks for your comment. I think trusting God to solve our worries is a process for everyone. First we decide that worrying doesn’t help. Second, we decide we’re not doing such a great job of solving our problems ourselves. Then, for the heck of it, we give one of our worries to God and He helps us. We trust God with more. We feel God lifting the burdens from us, and we feel peace. The more God helps us solve our problems, the more we go to Him. Feeling His peace is wonderful, isn’t it? Your progress is very encouraging!