DAY 35 — The Pearl: Put It Down
DAY 35 — The Pearl: Put It Down
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God...” — Philippians 4:6–7 (NKJV)
Promise to Believe
I do not have to carry what I can place into the hands of my Father. When I give Him what is troubling me, I can trust Him with what happens next.
Put It Down
Some things become heavy simply because we have carried them too long. Think about holding a glass of water in your hand. At first, it hardly feels heavy at all, but hold that same glass straight out in front of you for ten or fifteen minutes and your arm begins to ache. Keep holding it long enough and eventually your hand may begin to shake. The weight of the glass never changed; what changed was how long you carried it.
Life can feel that way. We pick up a problem in the morning and carry it all day. We think about it while driving, rehearse it during conversations, take it to dinner, carry it to bed, and sometimes wake up in the middle of the night still holding it. Then the next morning, before our feet even touch the floor, we pick it up again. No wonder we become tired.
Paul gives us a simple invitation in Philippians 4. Instead of carrying anxiety, turn it into prayer. Take what is troubling you and put it into the hands of God. Sometimes I think we pray about something but never actually release it. We tell God all about the problem and then walk away carrying exactly what we brought into the conversation. We have prayed, but we have not put it down.
There is a difference between talking to God about your burden and giving God your burden. Giving it to Him sounds something like this: “Father, I have done what I know to do. I have prayed, sought wisdom, and taken the steps You have shown me. Now I place this into Your hands. I refuse to spend the rest of this day trying to control something I have already surrendered to You.”
That does not mean the problem immediately disappears. Sometimes nothing changes on the outside at first, but something begins to change inside of us. Paul calls it “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” I love that phrase because it means I can have peace before I have an explanation. I can have peace before the answer arrives and while the circumstances are still uncertain. I do not have to understand everything to trust God.
That can be difficult for those of us who like to solve problems. When something goes wrong, our minds immediately begin working. What happened? Why did it happen? What should I do? What if this happens next? Before long, we have lived through ten imaginary tomorrows and exhausted ourselves over things that have not even happened. Worry has a way of making us carry tomorrow’s problems with today’s strength, and Jesus never asked us to do that.
There is certainly a time to think, plan, seek counsel, make decisions, and take action. Trusting God does not mean ignoring responsibility. But eventually we reach the place where we have done what we can do, and continuing to worry will not change anything. That is when we need to put the glass down.
Maybe today you are carrying something involving your family, health, finances, business, ministry, or a relationship. Perhaps you are concerned about someone you love, and because you cannot control their choices, you keep replaying every possible outcome in your mind. You were never designed to carry all of that, and your Father is strong enough to carry what you cannot.
I have discovered that sometimes I have to give the same thing back to God more than once. I surrender it in prayer, experience His peace, and then a few hours later notice that I have picked it up again in my thoughts. When that happens, I do not have to condemn myself. I can simply recognize what I have done and say, “Father, I gave this to You earlier, and I just realized I picked it back up. Here it is again.”
That is dependence, and this is where the exchanged life becomes very practical. I exchange anxiety for prayer, control for trust, fear of tomorrow for confidence in my Father, and the exhausting need to figure everything out for the peace of knowing He is with me.
Perhaps the question today is simply this: What are you carrying that God never asked you to carry? Bring it honestly to your Father, pray about it, and do whatever the Holy Spirit tells you to do. Then place it into His hands and leave it there. You may not know how everything is going to work out, but you know the One into whose hands you have placed it.
Sometimes faith is not holding on tighter. Sometimes faith is opening our hands and trusting our Father enough to let go.
Prayer of Faith
Precious Heavenly Father, You know what has been weighing on my heart. You know the things I have been thinking about, trying to solve, and carrying longer than I should. Today I place them into Your hands. Give me wisdom for anything You want me to do, courage to take whatever steps You ask me to take, and grace to release everything I cannot control.
Holy Spirit, when I begin picking these burdens back up in my thoughts, gently remind me that I have already placed them into the hands of my Father. I exchange anxiety for prayer, control for trust, and fear for Your peace. I do not have to understand everything to trust You because You are my Father, You love me, and You are strong enough to carry what I cannot.
Today, I put it down.
I am loved by You, precious Heavenly Father, filled with Your Holy Spirit, and alive in You, my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. In the powerful name of Jesus, amen.
