Yesterday I wrote about turning our problems over to the Lord. One guy mentions, “Okay, sounds great, now would you mind telling me exactly how to do that?”
Hmmm…Maybe it sounds easier than it is.
I’ll give a real life example. My brother used to call me periodically and tell me of all his woes. His five year old son whom he loved with all of his heart, soul, and being tragically died of brain cancer and his life fell apart shortly afterwards. He had about every problem one could imagine and was miserable. He’d been married and divorced numerous times and his current marriage was the pits, his kids’ lives were turning out horribly, his job was going terrible, he was drinking and drugging, he hated life and everything about it. He blamed God and talked derisively about Him and me for advocating Him at every opportunity.
I agonized for my only brother Jim and loved him deeply. I would try to lead him to the Lord as the best solution to his many problems, but he would simply cuss me out with every ounce of his strength and try to ridicule me for being a Christian. Usually he would hang up on me in a rage after calling me every name in the book.
I worried about him constantly and was deathly afraid he would die without the Lord and end up in hell. I tried everything that I could think of to reach him, but nothing worked and in fact it just seemed to alienate him more. One night he called, and was in a particularly bad mood. I tried telling him that his problems could be resolved by turning to God and it put him in a rage and he screamed at me and cursed me for a solid five minutes and ended the conversation by screaming at the top of his lungs, “F” you, and “F” God you stupid “G.D.” Bible thumper! And then he hung up.
That did it. I went back into my bedroom with tears streaming down my face and I got down on my knees. I prayed to God and told Him that I’d tried everything I knew to reach Jim and it was obvious that I was not up to the task. I told him that I couldn’t take it anymore and I was turning Jim over to Him. I was done and I wasn’t going to worry about him anymore. I ended my prayer by saying, “God he’s in your capable hands now”.
I felt a great sense of relief and I could actually feel the calming spirit of God descend on me. I slept well that night. The next evening my phone rang and it was Jim again, but this time he was crying and not venting. Earlier that day he’d found his current wife near death from a drug overdose suicide attempt. He revived her and later she told him in the hospital that when she got out she was leaving him.
Jim just couldn’t take being alone again, and going through yet another divorce. He was crying like a baby and had reached the end of his rope with nowhere to turn. I sent him an airline ticket, and he came to Atlanta. I took him to see my pastor and he got down on his knees and asked God to have mercy on his soul. He was wonderfully saved that afternoon and then we went down to Borders and bought a Bible. I spend the next two weeks fellowshipping with him and training him on how I use the Bible and prayer in my life to help get through the days.
His life dramatically changed for the better and as soon as his wife got out of the hospital he returned to New Orleans and they reconciled. He and their little son went down and joined a local church and were baptized as a family. For the next two years he enjoyed life to the hilt. He went to church on Sunday’s, studied his Bible, and enjoyed the wholesome things in life.
It was the most dramatic example of God answering prayer quickly that I’d ever seen and greatly enhanced my faith. I believe that God wanted me to realize that some things in life were just too big for me to try and solve on my own. I had to turn it over to God through prayer and quit trying to rely on my own wiles, and that worry was entirely ineffective and in fact counter-productive.
I believe we should try everything we can to solve problems. To me that is part of the equation. God gave us a wonderful brain and we should use it to every extent that we can; however we must rely on God, especially when our burden gets exceedingly heavy. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” says it all. “I” must do my part and rely on Christ to provide the real strength to accomplish my goals.
A football player tries to run into the end zone and score, but is stopped at the line, but then one of his teammates gets behind him and keeps pushing him forward until he crosses the line for a touchdown, that is how I envision God sometimes.
I think we should do our part but understand that God does the heavy lifting. We need to call His number on every play. Work don’t worry, and turn everything over to God, that is a good formula for success in dealing with problems.
Have a wonderful weekend and go to church this Sunday!
1 Peter 5:7
God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him.