God, I’d like less problems please
And/or…God, I’d like easier problems please
I’m fine with either option or both. You choose God.
Sometimes I wonder, is it really supposed to be this hard to deal with all the issues in life? Is life really this complicated to manage?
I’ve gotten to the point that I keep saying “I’m so DONE with this”
Ummmmm…ok…what does that even mean?
What is this?
I guess this is managing the issues of life. If you’ve been following along, I’ve already fired myself from my Life Manager position. But have I really?
I guess the answer is no.
And If I’m “so DONE”, then why do I keep taking the position back? I have no clue. This really makes zero sense to me. I wonder if anyone else feels this way?
Life has problems. That’s quite expected and clear, but what am I supposed to be doing with all of the problems? How do I let God be my Life Manager?
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Yes, please (insert check mark here). I’ll take it. I’ll happily take rest. Clearly I need to learn from Jesus and take his yoke upon me. Ok, how do I do that? What is Jesus’ yoke?
I believe I’m to surrender to Jesus leading me. Yoked with Jesus right next to me. Verses me trying to do everything myself and getting the heavy laden results that I’m so DONE with. Everything seems to keep coming back to my Life Manager position that apparently I’m desperately holding on to.
Perhaps the “how” is by prayer and quieting my mind to the things in the world. Then I’d be able to actually hear Jesus leading me. One thing I’m quite confident in…my mind is NOT quiet. It’s full of thoughts, scenarios, plans, and lists. So how do I get my mind to “quiet mode” and let God’s thoughts take lead?
I can start where God’s thoughts reside…the bible. The bible is the home of God’s thoughts. The more I read it, the more I would know what God’s thoughts are. Thankfully, as a believer, I’m not left to my own understanding of God’s thoughts. Or even my own motivation to read them. I have the Holy Spirit to help me. And I can assure you, I need lots of help.
And perhaps taking “Jesus’ yoke upon me” means me letting go of the problems and trusting in Jesus to handle them. To trust in Jesus with His solutions and in His ways and in His timing. I have to confess that sentence has WAY too many requirements that are not easy for me. It’s asking me to…
trust in Him…I like trusting myself
yield to His ways…I like my ways better
wait on His timing…I don't like waiting
Again, a battle happening. A true battle for me to surrender to God’s commands. But if I’m really so DONE then I must approach this as God requires. That is, if I truly do want the rest he’s offering.
So perhaps it goes something like this. As the inevitable problems arise, I'm to turn to God in prayer, read his word, and wait for his leading. That sounds so simple… but for me it is not. It includes the word wait. As you just read, I do not like waiting. And, I like my ideas better because mine don’t require waiting. My ideas are readily available at all times to be put into action immediately.
However, God’s thoughts are also readily available. I have multiple bibles and always have my phone. I just refuse to slow down and read them. I refuse to quiet my mind to hear them. I refuse to obey to wait and trust God’s ways to deal with life's problems…I’m so Done with this.
I must admit, I’m extremely relived the verse includes “learn from me”. And this is not expected to come naturally to me. Because it most definitely does not. I have to force myself to practice this. And honestly, it’s not too pleasant of an experience as it’s happening. It’s very difficult for me to do. But I can say that as I’ve started to do this, I have experienced God’s rest. God’s rest does happen…when I surrender. And it truly is incredible to experience.
You would think I since I have experienced the glory of God’s rest, that I would always surrender my ways (or at least do it more often). Then I could stop saying…I’m so DONE with this. Well, I don't and I haven’t. I’m still very much in “learning mode”. I’m amazed at God’s patience with me. I’m still baffled that even though I’ve experienced so many of God’s wonderful promises, that I still try to do it myself most of the time. But I do and God knows this and loves me anyway.
So perhaps I should change the title of this entry.
God, thank you for teaching me how to handle life’s problems
So here it is.
Blog entry Seven
Follow God and Bake from your Heart,
Ellie