Hope and Fear

Working out Faith

12/2

Its been a week since Thanksgiving.  I allowed the darkness to overwhelm me at times. Then like a deep inhale after you have been holding your breath, I was able to let it go.  Give it to God

What does that mean?  This question was posed by someone close to me - what does giving it to God mean?

My first response was thats a good question.
After sleeping on it and trying to figure out what that means to me, I have decided its almost as simple as telling a friend your worries and after you tell someone, the worries no longer have this magical control over your thoughts and/or feelings.

However, I believe there is more to it then simply just telling a friend. I have been wrestling with how to define it but here it goes....

Life would be so easy and carefree if we could just present every problem we had to God like a Honey-do list and God took care of it. I need this God, I need that. God could you intervene and stop this from happening? Oh, but then God can you please make this happen?
I am then reminded of Jim Carey in Bruce Almighty and when he answers all the emails with Yes - nothing really happens because everyone is asking everything for themselves, which usually goes against someone elses wishes. Everyone wins the lottery and ends up splitting millions among millions of people. In the end nothing happens because we all can't get what we want.
Silly comparison but its true.

I try to work-out on a regular basis. Sometimes, I feel like I am being dragged off to this medieval dungeon where I will subject myself to various types of torture devices. Then something strange happens. When I am in the midst of this torture, I begin to feel energized, endorphins are released into my brain and I actually start to enjoy the pain!  Why? How does it happen that before I arrive, in my head I am kicking and screaming like a child holding onto anything so that he doesnt have to go? Then magically, like someone just gave me a bowl of chocolate covered ice cream with sprinkles, I am happy to be there!  I think the answer lies in the truth of knowing what the end result is. I know that despite the time, despite the pain, despite the uncomfortableness that a gym can create, I know that if I go and if I work hard then I will be in good shape. I will look better, I will feel better!  I know the ending!

Boom - God has already told us our ending....in fact, its the line right before that annoying sign that you see at every sporting event; (John 3:16)...well verse 15 is this: that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. We win!

I am using the comparison of going to the gym because, as I reached and surpassed my 40th birthday, my chin started inviting other chins over to hang out!  All the choices of what I ate and how I treated by body became visually evident! 
For me, giving our problems and our worries over to God is much like giving our muscles over to those various torture devices. We trust that those devices are going to give us a result - we do not see how our muscles break down and are rebuilt. We don't see how the blood flows to the muscles and our body is flushing out toxins. We only see the end result.
Sometimes its painful. Its painful to go through a dark time and not know if God is really there. Its painful when we don't get what we want or what we think we deserve. Yet, just like every step on a treadmill or every barbell lifted up is bringing us closer to a healthy body....so, is prayer and turning our worries over to God bringing us closer to peace, joy and happiness! When we fully trust God - I believe, we experience a little bit of heaven on earth!  When Jesus said that he comes to bring life and life more abundantly I believe He was talking about those people who choose to have  relationship with Him, get to experience a slice of heaven pie in this broken world.  Where worrying, anxiety, bitterness, resentment, anger, hate, jealousy, sadness, lost, hopelessness become what we hold onto in the dark.....are exchanged for peace, happiness, joy, love, unity, kindness, goodness, self-control, gentleness and hope when we give it over to God.

Guess what.... God is working in our lives, we may not see it, we may not feel it, but He is. However, as He has given each of us free will, He can not just intervene and make things happen. He will use people, places, situations to try and help us make the right choices. The interesting part is whether we recognize that help and choose to take advantage of it. Ultimately, we know the end! Why waste time worrying about the workout in between?
Trusting God is hoping for things we can not see - faith! Faith is Hope! Hope is Love - the Love that God is with us and has already made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can spend eternity with Him!
Today - I choose to walk in that Hope and give it up to Him and enjoy the workout!