Thoughts for Life: FINDING REST FROM CONTROL

Finding Rest from Control

Matt Holmes

In life’s daily grind, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by our endless to-do lists. We strive to balance careers, relationships, and responsibilities, often believing that adding more will lead to success. Yet, this pursuit can leave us stressed and anxious. However, there’s a remedy amidst the chaos: trusting in God’s guidance.

God empathizes with our struggles and invites us to surrender our worries to Him. When Jesus visited Mary, Martha, and Lazarus’ home, Martha busily attended tasks while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, listening intently. Jesus commended Mary’s choice and highlighted the importance of seeking God’s guidance, even amid busyness.

We should pause and reconnect with God when we feel the urge to control our circumstances or relationships. Just as God orchestrates the right people in our lives at the right time, we must trust His timing and wisdom in our connections. Attempting to force relationships or manipulate situations often leads to heartache. Instead, we should pray for discernment and allow God to guide our interactions.

God promises to provide for your needs and navigate you through life’s challenges. You can find peace and open yourself to His incredible plans by surrendering your ambitions to Him. Prioritize time with God to align with His peace and will.

"So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God's kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from him. Then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly. Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself."
Matthew 6:33-34 TPT

Let's pray-

Father, in our daily grind, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by our endless to-do lists as we try to balance careers, relationships and responsibilities by ourselves.

This pursuit leaves us stressed and anxious. You have given us guidance that we need to trust in You to help us instead. Our failing to pause and reconnect with You when we feel the urge to control our circumstances or relationships, often leads to heartache. Instead, we should pray for discernment and allow You to guide our interactions.
You've promised to provide our needs and to navigate us through life's challenges. We're to find peace as we open ourselves to Your incredible plans by surrendering our ambitions to You. Priortizing time with You to align with Your will brings peace!
Please help us pray what Your Word says about worry, and stop chasing after less important things, which You already plan to give us abundantly. May we refuse to worry about our tomorrows, commtting each of them to Your guidance and provision. We can trust You to show Your care for us, as You love us!

In the name of Jesus, we pray for Your help to surrender our lives to Your guidance and provision. Amen.

#101 Testimony- Amy Carmichael

God may lead you to ask for things you had not thought about. Amy Carmichael was a missionary to India whom God greatly used in prayer and faith. At times, God impressed her to ask for things for which she saw no immediate need. But when she asked, God provided, and they proved of great value in her ministry. God knows the things we need even before we ask Him (Matt. 6:8).

Praise God, we can often prevail in prayer by merely asking. We can always claim the promises given for those who ask. Asking is the foundation of all prevailing in prayer.

1541-1545 One-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted-

1541- Song of Solomon 8:6a "Set me as a seal upon thine heart."

1542- Ps. 122:8 "For my brethren and companion's sake, I will now say, Peace be

within thee."

1543- Ps. 40:10b "I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation."

1544- Zeph. 2:3a "Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth."

1545- Ps. 50:1a "The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken."

#101 Hymn- He Leadeth Me

The information about this song, is taken from the book by Robert J. Morgan, THEN SINGS MY SOUL (pg. 145)

Dr. Joseph Gilmore, son of a Governor of New Hampshire, gave this account of writing this famous hymn: "As a young man recently graduated . . . I was supplying for a couple of Sundays the pulpit of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. At the mid-week service, on the 26th of March, 1862, I set out to give the people an exposition of the Twenty-third Psalm, which I had given before on three or four occasions, but this time I did not get further that the words 'He Leadeth Me.' Those words took hold of me as they had never done before, and I saw in them a significance . . . of which I had never dreamed.

At the close of the meeting a few of us in the parlor of my host, Deacon Watason, kept on talking about the thought I had emphasized; and then and there, on a blank page of the brief from which I had intended to speak, I penciled the hymn, talking and writing at the same time, then handed it to my wife and thought no more about it. She sent it to the Watchman and Reflector, a paper published in Boston, where it was first printed. I did not know until 1865 that my hymn had been set to music by William B. Bradbury.

I went to Rochester to preach as a candidate before the Second Baptist Church. Going into their chapel . . . I picked up a hymnal to see what they were singing, and opened it at my own hymn, "He Leadeth Me!'"

Some encouraging words-

As we attempt to live fruitful and prosperous lives, we are tempted to plan our way and direct our steps. God wants us to live fruitfully, but not on our terms. We will never live a fruitful life outside of God’s will. He invites us to share our plans with Him, and He will lead us down the right path. Let go of controlling your life and experience the abundant fruit God gives when He directs your steps.

Church Notes:

A NEW LIVING WAY

Christ became our offering for sin, replacing the sacrificial offerings of animals spoken of in the Old Testament. A body was prepared for Him to provide the way of salvation, not just for the covering of sins, but He became our Great High Priest, giving us access to the Father through the offering of His blood on the cross, and from His resurrecting from the dead to New Life!

Our admonition is to:

1) HAVE CONFIDENCE in the shed blood of Christ Jesus.

2) DRAW NEAR in heart with child-like faith to believe in what Christ has done.

3) HOLD FAST to our profession of faith, without wavering and to resist temptation to give up!

4) We're to STIR OURSELVES AND OTHERS UP with good works and love, by doing what we can to snatch others from the depths of despair, attending church

services faithfully and fellowshipping with others.

Upcoming posts:

9/6- WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE- Bill Crowder

13th- GETTING BACK UP- Nancy Gavilanes

20th- THE SIMPLE TRUTH- Dave Branon