Our Scripture Study
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6
I heard a speaker this week at an event I was attending and even though the whole message was really good, there was one thing that he said that stood out the most. He said, “If it can be taken away from you then you haven’t given it to God.
That statement really hit me, and I have been thinking about it ever since. I have been thinking about the things in my life that I complain about to God because I felt like He took them from me. As I look back on those things, with some of them, I got to see how God used them to direct my life and in some cases give me something better.
I am thankful that God has not taken anything serious from me, although they felt serious at the time. One example, which many of you may already know. When I was in High School getting recruited to college for basketball, I wanted to play at a division I school, and I blamed God for not getting to do that. I can say without a doubt that at that time, basketball was not something that I had given to God. Looking back, I can see how He used that to direct me to what I do today.
There are also times in my life when I know I was just cruising along and not thanking God for the good things in my life and instead I focused on what I don’t have. In good times I don’t always give the good things in my life to God. Instead, I feel like I earned them or deserved them. When that is my mindset, even simple things like not being able to go on vacation can throw me off. If my focus is not on God and I am more concerned about myself, that is when I don’t give those good things to God. When I don’t have them anymore, I complain to God.
Everything I have is from God. So why am I so afraid to trust Him with it. If something is removed, He has a purpose for it. When it causes a struggle in my life, it can be hard to accept. If I have already given it to God, then it will not feel like a big loss.
You can’t lose what you have already given away. A lesson I need to remember.
Have a great day in Christ
Matt
