1 Peter 5:7 – “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (NIV)
For a lot of years, my prayers often sounded like this, “God, I know you can do all things, so I give this problem to you. I trust you to handle it. Amen.” Then, five minutes later, I would be worrying again. Giving up control is not easy. It dawned on me one day that thinking that I could be in control was an illusion. The truth is, I control almost nothing, so why pretend that I do. What I discovered is when I quit playing God, that God never panics and never frets. Never one time in all of history has God said, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming. What in the galaxy am I going to do now?” God never wrings his hands. He is always in charge. Someone gave me a good exercise that they did to help them hand their worries to God and leave them there. They got a box and wrote on the outside of the box in big letters, TRUSTING GOD. Whenever they worried about something that they could not change, they wrote the worry on a piece of paper and put it in the box. Once in the box, it was God’s property and responsibility. From the moment they gave God the problem, they were not allowed to worry about it. If they did, they had to go to the box and physically take that concern away from God. When they did that, they visually acted out the real issue; they were not trusting God. Over time, they learned to give it to God and just leave it there. Try that. Maybe it will help you.
For a lot of years, my prayers often sounded like this, “God, I know you can do all things, so I give this problem to you. I trust you to handle it. Amen.” Then, five minutes later, I would be worrying again. Giving up control is not easy. It dawned on me one day that thinking that I could be in control was an illusion. The truth is, I control almost nothing, so why pretend that I do. What I discovered is when I quit playing God, that God never panics and never frets. Never one time in all of history has God said, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming. What in the galaxy am I going to do now?” God never wrings his hands. He is always in charge. Someone gave me a good exercise that they did to help them hand their worries to God and leave them there. They got a box and wrote on the outside of the box in big letters, TRUSTING GOD. Whenever they worried about something that they could not change, they wrote the worry on a piece of paper and put it in the box. Once in the box, it was God’s property and responsibility. From the moment they gave God the problem, they were not allowed to worry about it. If they did, they had to go to the box and physically take that concern away from God. When they did that, they visually acted out the real issue; they were not trusting God. Over time, they learned to give it to God and just leave it there. Try that. Maybe it will help you.
– Dr. Tim Thompson