August 19th Devotion

God Wants Us to Let Go and Let Him
By Keri Eichberger

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. – Psalm 55:22

Bone tired. These were the first words that came to my mind this morning as I sank into my bedroom desk chair preparing to open my devotional and Bible. I quickly squeezed in fifteen minutes of prayer time to amp up my strength to face the day, then rushed off to begin knocking off my to-do list tasks.

“Rush-rush” was the season of life I had found myself in. My family’s summer had made an abrupt sharp turn when my dad suffered a brain hemorrhage while we were vacationing and celebrating Mom and Dad’s 50th wedding anniversary. Combine that with an already fully loaded three months with the kids off school, I was determined to step up my game, meet all predetermined needs, and fill-in any new additional gaps.

For a few weeks, I sailed through the rough waters, seeming to settle each wave a bit as I passed through. In fact, as I reflect back, there were even a few bright rainbows amidst the storm. Reminders that God was the one doing the actual heavy lifting and that his blessings never ceased to pour out in various shapes and sizes, and at unexpected and most needed moments.

But, a day quickly came that became apparent I was trying too hard to do too much. When life felt flipped upside down and I, with great honor, pride, and purpose, jumped in to serve my parents, I didn’t acknowledge my need to make sufficient life space by letting something else loose. And, like I said, God divinely allowed me extra strength to keep all the balls in the air. But as the scales tipped from doing all things in love that were coming at me, to trying to control my whole world, I started to collapse. It’s almost as if God absolutely wanted, in his perfect grace, to gift me the ability to briefly go above and beyond, but he also absolutely never meant for me to assume all control of anything. And so I suppose he was A-OK to allow me to tire to the point of reminding me of just that.

God wants us to let go and let him.

How does this resonate with you? Do you feel tired right now? Are you trying to keep way too many balls in the air too? Trying to cut through the crest of one giant wave after the next in the deep dark waters of your life? It’s very possible God also wants to remind you to let go a bit. And let him do what he is already doing. Carrying and caring for all things.

I’m feeling a bit convicted as I write because after zipping around town this morning to and from appointments and obligations, then returning to my two six-year-olds, yet again, zoning out on devices, I decided to take immediate control of that sore site too. No more brain rotting on my watch. Never mind the fact that I was exhausted. Never mind the 100% truth that God is absolutely the one who will ultimately shape my littles’ little minds. Yes, he has control of them too. But neglecting this sovereign truth, and the better choice to release control to God and rest, I forewent the pause in order to squeeze into the only one and a half hours I had to get the girls a little exercise, vitamin D, and a brain cleanse.

So here I sit poolside while they splash and play device free. But hey, at least I decided to pick up my pen and a journal, which actually is quite therapeutic rest for me. So, I suppose in the best way I felt I could, I did work in and prioritize a sort of rest. But the point is this: I need to learn to pause. We all need to learn to pause. We need to let go when the overloads of life begin to wear us down. And remember God‘s already got all the things in his care. Anything and everything we are given the ability to do is a gift that we have the blessing to be a part of. But we should most certainly continue to call on God for direction, for what to start, and what to stop.