In Episode 4 of Trials & Triumph, I shared with you a recurring nudge that God had been giving me lately, that my attitude and desires and goals need to be backed up with action. This created a new fear in me that now I have to find a way to learn a new way of doing things in order to ensure that I don’t fail miserably at “the new me.”
I compare it to when I got my first Apple computer. It was about 4 years ago and before then, since I got my hands on my first non-Apple computer around 1995, all I had really known was Windows-based computing. So in 2014, when I got my first MacBook, I was very intimidated and wondered if I’d ever be able to figure it out.
Drop The Anchor (or You’ll Run Out of Gas!)
I feel the same way now about living a more fulfilled life by putting away my own selfish desires and not trying to control every aspect of life around me.
If you read my blog post from a couple of weeks ago, I shared with you that I began a mentor program through my church and was paired with a guy who is a bit further along in life to essentially work through a great curriculum-based study to help me better understand how to have a more impactful relationship with God. My mentor is so very encouraging and wise and the conversations we have are so mind-blowing and comfort-zone-stretching and I don’t know where I’d be today without these past four months of fellowship.
One thing he shared with me on a few occasions was this analogy about how we try to control everything (or many things) in our life without realizing it, instead of letting go of it and allowing God to work in and through us without our getting in the way!
In my best attempt to explain it, essentially, it’s like we’re out in a boat on the lake and the water is a bit choppy. We have this tendency to try and control things by getting on the throttle of the boat’s engine and trying to fight the motion of the water and keep the boat in one place. What we don’t realize is that we’re expelling so much of our own energy, as well as the fuel in the engine, and unless we simply drop the anchor and let it do what it’s meant to do, what we’re trying to do, which is help to hold the boats position steady, we will eventually run out of gas.
I believe I finally reached a point where I realize that I’m personally almost out of gas and I have just enough left to get to shore and let God take over as my anchor.
I have typically been unmoved by the verse in scripture, Jeremiah 29:11.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
Get Out of The Way
When I heard this anchor analogy, however, this verse took on a whole new meaning. I know there are other verses in the Bible that relate, but I’m simply reminded that God has seen my entire life from start to finish. Even though I’ve become so self-assured and confident that I can handle anything, He knows the whole story, so when I speak badly about my situation or try so hard to change something on my own, what am I saying to the God who created me and laid out my path ahead of time. All I’m doing is messing with what he has already put in place.
I know that life will be much less stressful when we each decide to open up our hearts and hands and let go of the worry, fear, anxiety, stress, responsibility, regret, and control that we’ve held so tightly to for so long. Jesus Christ took all of those things on himself on the Cross. He paid the ultimate price for all of our angst. He realized the ultimate angst because He knew that we couldn’t, and He gives us permission to let go.
So let that be your reminder every day that it’s already been stressed about and worried about and suffered for by Jesus. What He has planned for you in light of your earthly struggles is far greater than you can imagine and can only become reality if you choose to release your grip on the things you can’t control anyway.
TRIALS & TRIUMPH 
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