Let Go and Let God…
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” ~ Philippians 4:8 (ESV)
Sunday afternoon I was not in a very pleasant mode, believe me. You know how you plan out things just to scrap (pun intended) all your plans? Well, that was me Sunday…
All week I had planned to scrap some baby pictures of our son. I wanted to create some lasting memories for my little digi-scrap book; since the pictures just have been in a box for over 20 years. I had some of them scanned during the week, picked out the digi-supplies I wanted to use. Around noon time our son came up with the idea that he needed pants, that he needed ‘stuff’ for his apartment. To top things off, he wanted to keep the student loan payment because he needed to make all these purchases. I almost blew my top…
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;” ~ Philippians 4:4-5 (ESV emphasis mine)
Huffing and puffing I went the bathroom praying…”Lord, really, where is the reason here. Why do I always have to scrap all my plans to be there for Daniel…” — It never fails – God showed up to change my heart. There was something deeper than just the scrapped scrap-booking project, was there? For goodness sake! The pictures have been in a box for over 20 years.
You know what the issue is/was? I am scared. I am scared that I have failed to raise our son properly. Can he wash his own clothes? Can he prepare a meal other than Raman Noodles or scrambled eggs? He doesn’t have his drivers license-how will he get around? Will he pay his bills on time? All these questions flooded my mind.
The 15 minutes I spent in the bathroom praying changed everything. I knew the root of my foul mood. I felt that I did not prepare our son for a life away from home. God calmed my spirit and changed my mood. Needless to say, I enjoyed the time shopping with our son. He showed me that he can take care of himself. We bought clothes together, he picked out some towels for his apartment…we had fun. If you are wondering about the student loan payment…our son gave me the money.
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” ~ Philippians 4:13 (ESV)
Lord of Heaven and Earth. Thank You so much for changing my heart on Sunday afternoon. I am glad that You are there to guide my heart, mind and spirit. I know that I need to let go and let You take care of the rest. I am trusting in Your mercy. In the precious name of my Lord and Savior, in Jesus’ name I pray ~ Amen.
Blessings on your day and as always…
It’s interesting being a devotional writer, isn’t it? (I am too.) We’re always sharing our experiences and the personal happenings of our hearts. Sometimes I wonder if God lets us experience things just so we’ll share them… Hmmm.
I enjoyed this. So many times we are operating out of fear. I know I do. And it really does take that time of dialogue with God to recognize the underlying fear. but admitting that fear to our Father, then handing it to Him is such a relief.
So many times the Lord has to change my heart on a situation, I am seeing things through my own tunnel vision, I praise God he never lets me get away with anything and he is always there as a comfort.
Blessings my friend. And you are a good Mom, you did your job now it is time for him to fly. You will be there cheering him on!
Every blog I have gone to the last few hours keep saying the same thing. Let God take care of everything. And everything he is taking care of is for your good. I have one big worry in my life right now and I need to give it to God.
Your post speaks to my heart. When our son (20) has fallen short of our desired standard, we feel we haven’t prepared him for the adult realm thoroughly. The worst part is knowing he passively rejects God which is probably a symptom of his rejecting us on some level. It’s like trying to nail jello to the wall. You just can’t fully pinpoint the issue. Our frustration is mainly due to, as you say, not allowing God to be in control. Thank you for the reminder of letting go to let God deal with it. You have NO idea how much I needed this kind reminder this morning after almost being in tears last night.
Such a pleasure to meet you and come across your wonderful blog.
sparrow
Lovely post Iris. The fact that your son chose to spend his afternoon with you is testament to the fact that you are a good mother. Thanks for sharing.
You are so wise to pray about all these things Iris. I don’t always have the wisdom to do that and then end up saying or doing something I’m sorry for later.
I think you will find that your son will be a pleasant surprise. They have a way of working things out on their own. I look at my sons in amazement sometimes and wonder how they know the things they know. I believe God’s grace slips in and covers the areas we may not have done as well as we would have like to in. I know that’s true in my case. I made more mistakes than I like to think about. But God is a perfect parent.
thank God for prayer closets that double up as water closets.
Iris,
To see you rhonest heart and admit you are afraid made me want to just drive over there and wrap my arms around you and Daniel.
Thank you for sharing this. I think there are many of us in the exact same place. Thankyou for once again showing us how to go to Jesus…. I often meet him in the bathroom… Thank you for reminding me it is Christ alone who can change anything and everything. Love you….
You’re such a good mom. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your heart. It’s so amazing to see Jesus working in someone and then have them share their lessons. We are blessed to have you here!
I happened upon your blog and I just wanted to say what a wonderful spiritually filled site you have. I pray more blogs like yours become popular. You truly love the Lord. It is evident in your writings. God bless you and continue to spread the Word of God.
Here I want to say something not as a mother, but as a child to the mother which I said to my mother before:” Please do not worry for me, I have my own way to go, and I will keep my way on right one.” but NOW, as a child of the Lord, I know that he accompanies his child every day…YOu, Mother ,Just put your child on the hand of the heavenly father, he cares for his child more than you…:)