Someone recently sent me an email from God—well, of course it wasn’t from God but it certainly contained some good, godly advice. So, I’m going to give you this “message from God,” and show how it is true to God’s character and to the Word of God. Here’s the message to you from God:
“This is God. Today I will be handling all of your problems for you. I do not need your help. So, have a nice day. I love you. P.S. And remember, if life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in my time. All situations will be resolved, but in my time, not yours. Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.”
Think of that first statement: “Today I will be handling all of your problems for you. I do not need your help.” Does that mean you and I don’t have to do anything at all about the difficult situations in our lives? No, of course not. But we have to learn what it means to “cast all our anxiety on him because he cares for us” (2 Peter 5:7).
Do you find it difficult to release your cares and concerns to the Lord? It’s one of the areas where I struggle most, to determine what I’m supposed to do, and when I’m supposed to let it go. But this much I’ve learned: the first and most important thing for me to do when I’m facing a difficult situation is to spend time in prayer about it, not to rush into action.
You remember the story in 2 Chronicles 20, where Jehoshaphat was facing a terrible problem, and he was alarmed about it. But his first move was to “inquire of the Lord,” before he formulated a plan, before he made a move—he inquired of the Lord.
Once God gave him a plan, he did what the Lord told him to do. He led his army to the battlefield with the instruction that “Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.” They had to show up at the battlefield, but they did not have to fight, because the battle was not theirs, but God’s. That’s what God means when he says, “I will be handling all of your problems for you.” All he needs from you is obedience to follow his plan.
Are you there today—facing a difficult situation. Remember this message from God to you: “The battle is not yours, but God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15b).
What if you got an email message today from God? I think you’d read it and take it seriously, right? Well, we have a much better message than an email—the entire Word of God—to guide us and teach us. We just have to read it and obey.
We looked at what it means to let go of our problems and trust God to take care of them. Notice that simple next sentence: “I love you.”
Why is it difficult for some people to truly believe that God loves them personally? Even some people who have been believers for years still don’t really understand that God loves them. I’ve learned that one of the reasons can result from the relationship you had or have with your earthly father. It’s never been hard for me to believe that God loves me because I had such a loving, tenderhearted earthly father. But far too many of you had a different kind of father.
I wish there were some words I could say to convince you that your heavenly father loves you! He is the perfect father—everything a father should be and more—and if you didn’t have a loving relationship with your earthly father, the good news is, you can have one with your heavenly father. He loves you!
Let me quote some of his words, and hopefully they will be convincing to you:
Jeremiah 31:3: I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Everlasting is forever. Nothing can change his love for you.
Romans 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death nor life neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God loves you! This is a message from God. He knows the worst about you and loves you still. Believe it and have a really good day.
I was thinking about some of the truths contained in the email. For example, it says we are not to attempt to resolve difficult situations ourselves, but put them in the SFGTD box—“Something for God to do” box.
Now, I doubt that any of you have a box with that label on it—“Something for God to do.” But you know, it might just be a good idea, a way to continually remind yourself to give your troubles to God and trust him to come up with the right plan.
I remember someone telling me that each day on the way home from work, he crossed a large river, and he would say to himself, “I’m dumping all these problems from my job into the river, right here. I can pick them up tomorrow on the way back, but I’m not carrying them home with me.” That’s what I call using a gimmick to practice a truth. Sometimes we need gimmicks, reminders, and memory joggers, to help us put into practice a truth that will set us free.
If you have difficulty letting go and trusting God in difficult situations, I encourage you to take this advice and put it in the SFGTD box regularly. And when you take it out a few minutes later and start to worry again, just make yourself put it back in the box. That is learning to cast all your cares on him because he cares for you. This is God’s message to you.
We looked at giving our problems over to God, putting them in the SFGTD box—something for God to do box. But the hard part often is God’s timing. This message says, “All situations will be resolved, but in my time, not yours.” There’s the rub, right? God’s timing often seems so wrong to us.
You remember when Jesus delayed returning to Bethany to heal Lazarus, and as a result Lazarus died before he got there. Mary and Martha certainly did not understand his timing, and yet Jesus had a far greater purpose than simply healing Lazarus. Eventually they understood that Jesus’ timing was best, as he raised Lazarus from the dead.
But what about those situations where Jesus doesn’t “get there in time,” so to speak? Friends, God’s time is endless—in fact, he is not limited to time. So, when we think God has failed to respond in a timely way, it could just be that only eternity will hold the answer for us. The Bible says, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We just cannot get the full picture on this side of eternity; we’re looking through a poor prism. But in eternity we shall understand fully why God’s timing was not ours.
So, here’s God’s message: “God will get to your situation in his time, not yours.”
At the end of the email it says, “Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it.” Is God saying: “Don’t worry; be happy”?
Well, how are we supposed to be happy when we’re in the midst of trouble and heartache? And how in the world do we keep from worrying about it? Sometimes I think we actually feel guilty if we are not—at least—worrying about that difficult situation or relationship.
Jesus said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27). Worrying is a totally useless, time-consuming, energy-draining activity. It never does any good. So it is totally foolish of us to worry. And the way we stop worrying is to drive out those worrying thoughts with thankful thoughts—focusing on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now—as this message from God reminds you.
Recently I discovered a journal left by my Mom after she passed away. And back in 1991 she wrote: “Today I choose to accept my husband as he is. By an act of my will—not emotions—I choose to stop talking about his being too determined, even to stop thinking about it. . . I choose to think upon how good and sweet he is to me.”
That is called replacing wrong thoughts with right ones, and that’s how you stop worrying. So, don’t forget God’s message to you, to stop worrying and focus on his goodness to you
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