Topic: Relax! God Is Working [Joyce Meyer Devotional 19 March 2021]
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Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]— Matthew 11:28 (AMPC)
Being relaxed feels wonderful. Being nervous, tense, and worried—as you know—are not so wonderful. Jesus said if we’re weary and overburdened, we should go to Him and He’ll give us rest, relaxation, and ease for our souls (see Matthew 11:28–29 AMPC). He wants to teach us a better way to live, which is different from the way most of the world lives.
It would be putting it mildly to say that I was an uptight woman for the first half of my life. I simply did not know how to relax, and it was due to me not being willing to completely trust God. I trusted God for things, but not in things; I kept trying to be the one in control. Even though God was in the driver’s seat of my life, I kept one hand on the wheel just in case He took a wrong turn. Relaxation is impossible without trust!
If you know you can’t fix the problem you have, then why not relax while God is working on it? It might sound easy, but it took many years for me to learn to do this. I know from experience that the ability to relax and go with the flow in life is directly dependent on how fully we’re trusting God. When things don’t go our way, we can know that getting our way in that situation wasn’t what we needed. And since God knew that, He gave us what was best in the long run instead of what we wanted in the moment.
If you’ve been waiting a lot longer for something than you’d expected or hoped to, you can stay frustrated about it, or you can remind yourself, “God’s timing is perfect—He’s never late. I know He’s ordering my steps, and eventually they’ll turn out better than if I’d tried to do it all myself.” When it comes to things that are out of our control, we can either let it ruin our day, or relax and enjoy life while God’s working. It may take you many years to learn to fully trust Him, but each day will be better and better as you trust more and learn to relax.
Prayer Starter: Father, please help me let go of the reins in situations that I can’t change and trust You to do what needs to be done. Thank You for working and doing what I can’t do, and for giving me the grace to start to relax and enjoy life more. In Jesus’ name, amen