Just how sufficient are we without God? We had nothing to do with being born, no control over our nationality or the color of our skin, and we did not control our ancestry or the basic mental and physical abilities we were born with. A power no one understands keeps our heart beating, our lungs taking in air, our blood circulating, and our body temperature up. A simple study of the human body surely must tell us that we have a Divine Creator. What a tragedy to believe that we evolved from apes! A surgeon can cut through human tissue, but, by a miracle no one understands, the body heals itself. We are amazed and impressed by the medicine available today, yet we all grow old and eventually we all die, and no amount of modern medicine can stop that!
Are we self-sufficient? Hardly!
The law of gravity that holds the world together operates independently of us. The balance of oxygen and nitrogen is exactly right for man and animals. The planet is tipped on its axis at exactly 23½ degrees. Were it to vary at all, continents of ice would form at the North and South Poles with a desert in between. If the sun were any farther away we would freeze to death, and if it were any closer, we would die of solar radiation. If the balance of any of these things suddenly changed, even a tiny bit, we would all be instantly destroyed. The Bible says that Jesus is upholding, maintaining, guiding, and propelling the entire universe by His power (see Heb. 1:3). It sounds like a huge job, but He does it without any effort seated (resting) by God’s side.
Since we know that God is keeping the universe running properly every second of every day, why would we doubt that He can take care of us? He has all power, all authority, all wisdom, and he loves us with a perfect love that is promised to us unconditionally and forever. Put your faith in Him and enter His rest. Faith is the leaning of the entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness (see Col. 1:4). Think that over and ask yourself if you trust God absolutely. Are you leaning on Him in every situation? Do you believe that He has the power to help you, and that since He has all wisdom He knows exactly what to do and when to do it? Do you believe that God is good, and that He wants to be good to you? If you do believe these things, then you are ready for the next piece of good news that I have for you.
There Is Nothing for You to Worry About
Worry is totally useless. As I often say, it is like rocking in a rocking chair all day. It keeps you busy, but gets you nowhere. I was a worrier, so I know what a stronghold it can become in our lives. I also know that it is a bad habit that is not easily broken, but since all things are possible with God, then it is possible for us to live free from worry, anxiety, and fear. If you are willing to give up worrying, then you will be able to enter into an attitude of celebration. You can trust God and enjoy life while He solves your problems. Give yourself permission to stop worrying.
Worry is totally useless. As I often say, it is like rocking in a rocking chair all day. It keeps you busy, but gets you nowhere.
Nothing is outside of God’s control, so in reality there is nothing to worry about. If for some reason God could not control a thing, whatever would make us think that we could? When we begin to look at worry in a realistic manner we see how totally useless it is. Our minds revolve endlessly around and around a problem, searching for answers that only God has. We may ponder a thing and ask God for wisdom, but we do not have God’s permission to worry. Pondering a thing in God is peaceful, but worry is tormenting. When we worry, we torment ourselves! We can pray and ask God to help us not to worry, but ultimately we must choose to put our thoughts on something other than our problems. A refusal to worry is proof that we trust God and it releases Him to go to work in our behalf.
Worry is a big problem for people. I wonder how much of our mental time is spent worrying, reasoning, and fearing—-possibly more than is spent on anything else. Instead of meditating on our problems let’s choose to meditate on the “alls” of God. Let us realize how unlimited His power is and trust Him to do what we cannot do.
One relatively short Scripture in the Bible uses the word “all” four times:
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
1 Peter 5:7 (emphasis mine)
I am asking you to take the time to really look at this verse, word by word, and think about what it really means. We receive revelation through meditation, not just reading quickly. There is great value in digesting a Scripture one word at a time.
Casting means to pitch or throw. So we need to violently refuse to worry—to throw it away! The whole of our care means all of our cares. All anxiety, all worry, all concern is to be thrown away, and we should do it thoroughly, once and for all so that we make a decision to never waste one minute of our lives worrying. Not only are we to throw our care away, but this verse says that we are to throw our cares on God! Because He is God, He can—and wants to—absorb our cares. What a gift! God cares for us affectionately—not begrudgingly. God enjoys caring for us. He cares about everything that concerns us and He is always watching. Nothing slips by God unnoticed.
Even if we make a firm decision not to worry, worry will present itself to us and try to slip back into our thoughts. Our job is to cast it down the moment we realize it is trying to occupy space in our thinking. I will admit that initially it is quite a battle, but persistence always pays off. The devil will try us to see if we mean business, so we must be firm in our decision. I WILL NOT WASTE ONE MINUTE OF MY LIFE WORRYING! Say it over and over firmly until this new thinking becomes a part of you. When you are tempted to worry, I suggest that you celebrate something God has done for you in the past instead. Remember, the devil hates parties, but God likes them.
Instead of leaning toward the negative and meditating on our problems, let’s look for the things in our life that once were problems and have now been solved. We can celebrate those things, and when we do it will increase our faith for current situations to also be solved. Meditating on good things is a decision that you must make and not a feeling you wait to have.
You can order your life according to God’s will, rather than allowing it to order you. Remember that God has all power and you are in Him, so you have power, too. You are not a helpless weakling that must put up with any kind of thought that falls into your mind. You have weapons of warfare that will allow you to cast down wrong thoughts and imaginations (see 2 Cor. 10:4–5). These weapons are the word of God being used in various ways. We can sing the word, speak the word, read the word, study the word, and meditate on the word. You can only think about one thing at a time, so the next time you start to worry, just decide to think about something else and go ahead and enjoy your day while God works on your situation.
The next time you start to worry, just decide to think about something else and go ahead and enjoy your day while God works on your situation.
Take a Vacation While You Work
When we learn to live without worrying we can do our work or whatever else we need to do, all the while with our soul on vacation. We can deal with circumstances that are unpleasant and handle all the responsibility we have, and yet remain totally peaceful and calm. I recall sharing this message once in a church, and the pastor of the church got a revelation of what I was saying and literally threw his hands up in the air, slid down into a relaxed position in his seat, and said, “I can pastor this church while my soul is on vacation.”
I think those of us who are in leadership feel responsible to make sure everything goes the way it should go. Of course, we should be responsible, but if we take a false or an exaggerated sense of responsibility then we will never enjoy what we do. Casting your care does not mean that you don’t care what happens; it just means that you know only God can change it. Your faith is in Him rather than in you, and you can let your mind, emotions, and will rest in Him.
Whatever your assignment is in life, you can enjoy the entire process if you learn how to le
t your soul (mind, will, emotions) rest. David said, “Be merciful and gracious to me, O God, be merciful and gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge and finds shelter and confidence in you” (Ps. 57:1). David said that his soul (mind, will, emotions) was resting in God. His soul was on vacation! I suggest that you spend some time each morning deciding how you are going to respond to the day. Set your mind to be peaceful no matter what happens.
Our soul needs to be quiet rather than in turmoil. If you take a look at your inner life, what do you see? Are you worried, upset, and stubbornly resisting God’s plan, or are you silently waiting on God, expecting Him to be all in all?
For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation.
Psalm 62:1
How long has it been since you have given your soul a vacation? It is possible to take your physical body on vacation for weeks and yet the entire time never let your soul be on vacation. You can lie on the beach at a beautiful Caribbean island resort while your soul is in turmoil. Your soul needs a vacation possibly even more than your body does. It needs to be quiet and at rest. The entire premise of “eat the cookie… buy the shoes” is designed to let your soul rest. It is not wrong to let go of life’s demands and circumstances for a while and do something you enjoy.
It is not wrong to let go of life’s demands and circumstances for a while and do something you enjoy.
If we learn to do things God’s way, we will be able to work with our soul on vacation and we will be able to vacation without our soul working! One day of inner rest is probably worth more to our overall health than a two-week physical vacation. Give it a try—start practicing letting your mind and emotions rest and while you do it, tell God often that you are trusting Him to supply all of your needs (see Phil. 4:19).
Anytime your soul gets stirred up remind yourself of this Scripture:
Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
Psalm 116:7
CHAPTER 14
Give God Your All
When we give God our all we are actually saying to Him, “God, Your will be done and not mine.” It is the only way we can live with our soul on vacation. Otherwise, we are always wrestling with something that is not working out the way we want. We exist for God and His glory, and being obedient to His will should be our goal.
All things were created by and for Him. He existed before all things and in Him, they are all held together. He is the Head of all things and must occupy the first and chief place.
Colossians 1:16–18
Is God your Head? Is He your King, your Chief, and does His will rule in your decisions? Have you given God your all? We must answer all these questions honestly, and if we are not able to say yes, yes, and yes—then we need to change.
Jesus said to His Father, “All that is Mine is Yours, and all that is Yours is Mine” (see John 17:10). What a beautiful Scripture! These thirteen words contain volumes of meaning. What have you not released to God? Whatever it might be is hurting you more than you might realize. Stubbornly hanging onto our own will is never good for us. Anything God tells us to do is always and only for our good if we believe that we will be able to “Let go and let God be God.”
I was an expert at being stubborn for more years than I like to admit and perhaps you have been also. But the good news is that we can change! We can surrender and when we do our will goes on vacation. Just last night I had an opportunity to practice what I am preaching. Dave had plans to play golf today, and I might say that it was one of many times that he has played lately. I, on the other hand, have been dutifully working on this book. I asked him if he could play early and get home by three so we could go and eat early. He responded that he wanted to have plenty of time to pray and study before he left for the golf course and that he did not want to have to hurry since it was his last day to play during this trip. I could feel my soul going off of vacation right then and there. I felt words forming in my soul and making their way to my mouth for expression. I said, “You could sacrifice a little; after all, I have been working all week!” I could see right away that kind of approach was not going to work, so I quickly decided to give it to God. I said to Dave, “You make the decision and I will work with whatever works out.” In doing this, I was giving God my all, and immediately my soul went back on vacation and God was able to work in Dave’s heart. Within less than one minute Dave said, “I will probably be able to get home by three.” When I think of the fight we could have had and at one time would have had, I am so glad that I have learned to give it to God. If He can’t convince Dave, then I certainly can’t. I don’t know about your husband, but I have noticed that mine doesn’t like to be convinced by me; he wants to think it was his idea. Even if Dave had not changed his mind, it would have done me no good to get upset. He would have still had a good time playing golf and I would have been upset and miserable.
We all have similar situations several times each week, if not daily. How can we live with our soul on vacation if we are going to try to convince God and everyone else to do things our way? We can’t, so why not give our all to God so we can experience His all in our lives?
How can we live with our soul on vacation if we are going to try to convince God and everyone else to do things our way?
I mentioned earlier that one of my greatest joys in life is watching God work. We can either open the door for God to do amazing things through submission to Him, or close the door through being stubborn. My decision to shut up and give the situation with Dave and his golf to God is not so hard now because I have experienced how wonderful it is to live with my soul on vacation. But there was a time when it was one of the most difficult things in the world for me to do. Don’t expect that giving God your all will be easy in the beginning. It is easy to say it, but not as easy to do it. Our soul is very much alive—it has strong opinions and thoughts, strong emotions, and a strong will. It wants what it wants, when it wants it. Successfully turning our soul over to God will be similar to breaking a wild stallion. There will be quite a battle, but you will enjoy the ride when the battle is over.
Satan definitely does not want you to live with your soul on vacation. He wants you to worry, be emotionally upset or downcast, and stubbornly fighting for your own way and resisting the good will of God. Sadly, this is the condition that many Christians are in. They go to church, and sing the song, “I Surrender All,” but that is as far as it goes. There is not enough teaching on the soul, and many people don’t understand the important role that it plays in our life. The truth is that no matter how long you have been a Christian, if your soul is a mess then you are miserable. The world is already filled with miserable sinners, so we definitely don’t need miserable Christians!
Don’t Miss God’s Best
The Apostle Paul begged those he taught to dedicate all of their members and faculties to God for His will and use (see Rom. 12:1). God will manage if we refuse to do that, because He will find a submitted vessel to work through. But we will miss out on God’s best for us.
Why did God choose Noah and his family to be saved in the ark during the flood? What was so special about this one man? The Bible says that Noah did according to all that God commanded Him. How much obedience are we willing to walk in? Especially if what God asks us to do makes no sense to our mind or doesn’t feel right to our emotions? I doubt that Noah understood what God was asking him to do when he required him to build an ark for an upcoming flood. Noah must have been the laughingstock of his region. I am sure that his obedience hurt his reputation with men. How willing are you to obey God if your obedience is likely to hurt your reputation with men?
Paul said that if he had been trying to be popular with people he would never have become an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot always be God pleasers and people pleasers at the same time.
The Bible doesn’t say this, but perhaps Noah was not the first or only man to be invited to build the ark. Maybe God asked others but Noah was the only one wi
lling to obey God. God is not necessarily looking for people with amazing ability, but He searches for availability, and a person who is willing to simply do what He asks them to do. If we will lift our hands to God and say, “I am available to do whatever you want me to do,” we can live with our soul on vacation. We will have peace and joy as we journey through life.
The Bible uses some words that we don’t hear very often today and I think we should take a look at some of them:
Dedication—Devoted to something, devoted to a divine being, set aside for a special purpose. Are you dedicated to God?
Consecration—Anointed with the Holy Spirit for a special purpose, not to be used for other things, made sacred by a ceremony (see Rom. 1:7 and 1 Peter 2:5).
Do you see yourself as one that is set aside for a special purpose in life?
Sacrifice—Offering something to God by giving up something that we have. We can sacrifice praise, thanksgiving, money, time, or anything that we own. We can also sacrifice ourselves. God wants us to come to Him as a living sacrifice.
Are you willing to make any personal sacrifice to be in God’s perfect will?
Submission or obedience—Doing what we are asked to do by someone in authority, and with a good attitude.
Are you submissive to God and all other authority in your life?