Loosen Your Grip
Trust - What an interesting concept. It’s something that we crave from other people. It’s also one of the hardest things for us to give back to those same people. Then, throw in our family, and it gets really interesting. When it comes to my kids, trust is really hard to give to others… even to God!
My family has been on a journey the last few years with my youngest daughter. She’s had issues with her ears since she was one year old (She’s almost nine now). At first, we thought she just needed tubes to help with constant ear infections. When those tubes didn’t come out on their own, the doctors had to go get them. Then when the holes from the tubes didn’t heal up, they had to go patch them. If you’re keeping count, that’s three surgeries.
We thought everything was finally going to turn around after that third procedure.
A few years, we went to her yearly check-up. We were hoping for another routine visit with no news at all. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. The doctors discovered the patches they put in didn’t hold, and our girl still had holes in each eardrum. Not only did she have holes in her eardrums, but she has significant hearing loss in both ears as well.
It was then the doctor told us she would need not one, but two invasive surgeries to repair the holes in her eardrums, and there was no guarantee that either of these surgeries would work.
Now what does all this have to do with trust? I wish I could tell you that everything worked out, we didn’t need the surgeries, her hearing was restored, and the holes were miraculously healed. That can still happen, and we will believe for it. But that’s not where we are right now. We’re smack dab in the middle of this, and we just recently scheduled the first surgery.
As a parent, this has been an extremely difficult season for us. We look at our little girl and wish we could take it all away. We’ve asked God, “Why? Why us? Why her?” We’ve had good days and bad days. We have days where we want to grab on tight and make it go the way we want it to go. But that’s not how life works.
All trust, to some extent, has a level of risk. If it didn’t have risk, would it really be trust?
This is where it changes for those who know God. Trusting God may have risk, but it’s not the same risk as trusting in man. Man will fail you, but God never will. The big risk of trusting in God is that it may not look like I want it to. I’d say many times it won’t.
In this season, I have to keep reminding myself of the truth, that God is good. His thoughts are higher than my thoughts, and His ways are not my ways. He and everything He does is perfect. I have to remind myself that I am not in control, and I can let go because the One who is in control is GOOD!
For our little girl, we don’t know yet what’s going to happen. We don’t know if God will heal her before the surgery or if her hearing will be restored after. What we do know is that God loves her more than we do. His plans for her are greater than our own. She is a gift that He placed in our hands, but she is ultimately still in His.
Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God. All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. - Psalm 36:5-9
JOURNAL:
1. Is there an area of my life that I need to trust His ways and release control?
2. What’s the worst that could happen if I surrender my control to Him?
3. If God was standing in front of me, what would he tell me about this situation?
PRAYER: Father, I acknowledge that I am struggling to surrender (fill in the blank) to You. Today, I choose to trust You. I choose to surrender it over to You and trust how You want to handle it. I know I can trust You because I know that You are good and You take care of Your children. Father, grow my faith in this season and help me to see what You see. In Jesus name, Amen.
My family has been on a journey the last few years with my youngest daughter. She’s had issues with her ears since she was one year old (She’s almost nine now). At first, we thought she just needed tubes to help with constant ear infections. When those tubes didn’t come out on their own, the doctors had to go get them. Then when the holes from the tubes didn’t heal up, they had to go patch them. If you’re keeping count, that’s three surgeries.
We thought everything was finally going to turn around after that third procedure.
A few years, we went to her yearly check-up. We were hoping for another routine visit with no news at all. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. The doctors discovered the patches they put in didn’t hold, and our girl still had holes in each eardrum. Not only did she have holes in her eardrums, but she has significant hearing loss in both ears as well.
It was then the doctor told us she would need not one, but two invasive surgeries to repair the holes in her eardrums, and there was no guarantee that either of these surgeries would work.
Now what does all this have to do with trust? I wish I could tell you that everything worked out, we didn’t need the surgeries, her hearing was restored, and the holes were miraculously healed. That can still happen, and we will believe for it. But that’s not where we are right now. We’re smack dab in the middle of this, and we just recently scheduled the first surgery.
As a parent, this has been an extremely difficult season for us. We look at our little girl and wish we could take it all away. We’ve asked God, “Why? Why us? Why her?” We’ve had good days and bad days. We have days where we want to grab on tight and make it go the way we want it to go. But that’s not how life works.
All trust, to some extent, has a level of risk. If it didn’t have risk, would it really be trust?
This is where it changes for those who know God. Trusting God may have risk, but it’s not the same risk as trusting in man. Man will fail you, but God never will. The big risk of trusting in God is that it may not look like I want it to. I’d say many times it won’t.
In this season, I have to keep reminding myself of the truth, that God is good. His thoughts are higher than my thoughts, and His ways are not my ways. He and everything He does is perfect. I have to remind myself that I am not in control, and I can let go because the One who is in control is GOOD!
For our little girl, we don’t know yet what’s going to happen. We don’t know if God will heal her before the surgery or if her hearing will be restored after. What we do know is that God loves her more than we do. His plans for her are greater than our own. She is a gift that He placed in our hands, but she is ultimately still in His.
Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God. All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. - Psalm 36:5-9
JOURNAL:
1. Is there an area of my life that I need to trust His ways and release control?
2. What’s the worst that could happen if I surrender my control to Him?
3. If God was standing in front of me, what would he tell me about this situation?
PRAYER: Father, I acknowledge that I am struggling to surrender (fill in the blank) to You. Today, I choose to trust You. I choose to surrender it over to You and trust how You want to handle it. I know I can trust You because I know that You are good and You take care of Your children. Father, grow my faith in this season and help me to see what You see. In Jesus name, Amen.
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