TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF YOU!

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 1Peter 5:6-7

Sometimes we face situations where we don’t seem to see a way out. We look at the facts, the figures, the reports, and the odds don’t seem to look favourable. We do our best to come up with a plan to find some kind of solution, we think we must have the answer or nothing is going to work out!

We must understand that some things are reserved for God alone, we don’t have to understand them or worry ourselves about the details. Just take the pressure off you and believe in what God can do. 

God uses these situations to do His work in us when we don’t understand it or can’t explain where the solution is coming from. The more we try to reason it out, the more discouraged we get, thinking, “What am I going to do?”, but this is what faith is all about, you have to trust God even when you don’t understand. Or don’t seem to see the solution from anywhere.

When Moses led the two million Israelites out of slavery into the desert, they headed towards the Promised Land, very excited, God had just brought them out of years of captivity. Moses led them through the desert without even knowing the route, the food they would eat or their shelter. He took the pressure off himself by just trusting in God’s direction.

Just because you don’t know or don’t understand, doesn’t mean God doesn’t have a plan. Moses was never under pressure about the future, leading the Israelites through the wilderness even when he did not understand anything about the journey. He had such a trust in God, that he didn’t have to understand how everything was going to work out. He never had all the details but took it one step at a time.

And sometimes we think it’s a lack of faith to say: I don’t know what God is doing. We think we need to have it all figured out. Take the pressure off you, you don’t have to understand everything God is doing in your life or around you.

God has it in the palm of His hand, He is directing your steps. The scripture says, “God has planned out all of your days, He has a blueprint for your life”. When you can’t figure out how something is going to work out, you find yourself getting worried and losing sleep, that’s a sign God doesn’t want you to know about it now.

You have to be comfortable without an understanding of what God is doing. When you say, “God, I don’t see how my business is going to make it. I don’t see how my family is going to be restored. I don’t know how I’m going to raise these children, but I’m not going to live stressed, and worried.

God, I trust you when I don’t see anyway. I trust you when I don’t have the answer. I realize I don’t have to know because you know and you control the universe”. That attitude of faith and taking the pressure off you is what allows God to do amazing things.

The truth is that God had the solution before you had the challenges. He could show you the details, He could show you how it would be resolved. If He is not, then He is using it to work in you. He doesn’t want you to know it right now. Will you trust Him even when you don’t see how it could happen? Trusting Him is taking the pressure off you and keeping yourself from worrying about it.

Most people want to know about everything. They like to have a plan for everything, they are detailed and organized, and always trying to figure things out. When they can not figure it out, they get stressed, It’s very liberating when you learn this principle, that there are some things we are not supposed to understand now. 

It’s okay to take a step of faith like Moses, leading millions of people into the desert without knowing how they are going to feed, cross the Red Sea and have shelter.

Never see it as a lack of faith when you don’t know what God is doing. It’s just the opposite, you are taking yourself off the seat of God in that situation and allowing Him to sit on His seat. You are giving God complete control of the situation.

When we are trying to figure everything out, come up with our plan, and say things like “If I could make this happen and manipulate this situation, convince this person to like me”, then we are putting pressure on ourselves and taking the place of God in that situation.

As long as you are in God’s position in that situation, God will step back, but when you say, “God, I don’t know how this is going to work out, I’m not going to worry, I’m not going to keep trying to figure it out. God, I trust you, I know your plans for me are for good”. When you trust God even without an understanding God will make things happen that you couldn’t make happen.

GOD HAS THE ANSWERS!

Just because you don’t have the answers doesn’t mean God is not going to show up and do something amazing in your life. Trust God when you don’t understand. The scripture says “Lean not to your understanding” .Proverbs 3:5, Take this in the right sense, but sometimes you have to turn your mind off, don’t try to figure everything out. Yes, use wisdom, use common sense, but when you start getting frustrated and can’t find a solution, you are tempted to live worried, that’s where God doesn’t want you to be!

The scripture says “We know not what to pray” Romans 8:26. Here is a man Paul, who wrote almost half of the New Testament, one of the most brilliant minds of his day, yet he said: we know not. He knew how to take pressure off himself and was comfortable with what he didn’t know or understand. 

He didn’t see it as a lack of faith to admit: I don’t have all the answers, I don’t know what to pray, I have uncertainty, things I don’t understand, things I don’t know how they are going to work out. 

The reason Paul could say this and not be worried, bitter, “God, why isn’t it happening? When is it going to work out?”, is found in the second immediate verse after “We don’t know what to pray”. It says “We know all things work together for good to them that love the Lord”. The way you can take the pressure off you is to believe and say all things are working together for your good. 

I don’t know how this is going to work out, but I do know who is on the throne, I do know who is directing my steps, and I do know who is planning out my days. I have been chosen by Him. Are you frustrated over what you don’t know, about what you can’t figure out? Have a new perspective, even Paul said: I know not. It’s okay not to have the answers.

You may not see how your situation can work out: the odds are against you, you have come up with different options, and nothing looks good to you. You too could live frustrated and worried? No, be still and know that He is God. You don’t have to be God, you don’t have to figure it out, He is on the throne, and He has the solution. 

You don’t have to get worried after doing what you can, as long as you know who is in control. The Creator of the universe will open doors you couldn’t open, break chains that have held you back, and bring dreams to pass that seemed impossible.

When you know not, don’t sit around depressed. Keep thanking God that He is working, keep talking like it’s on the way, keep that song of praise in your heart, and keep being good to people, keep doing the right thing. Don’t let what you don’t know and what you can’t see keep your faith from being released.

God told Abraham to leave his country and go to a land that He would show him. Interestingly, God didn’t tell him where.  Abraham would have never become the father of our faith if he had not trusted without an understanding of where God was taking him. (Genesis 12:1)

God gave Abraham the promise that he and his wife Sarah were going to have a baby, even when they were very old. Years passed with no sign of a child, every circumstance said it was impossible. But Abraham understood this principle, he said in effect: “We know not how it can happen, there is no way in the natural but God we trust you. We believe what you promised will come to pass”.

Sarah gave birth at the age of 90 years, God did more than they dreamed. That baby, they named him Isaac, he grew to be a young man and God told Abraham to take him to the top of a mountain and sacrifice him. They travelled for three days and finally arrived at the location. Isaac said: “Dad we have the fire, we have the wood, but where is the sacrifice”? Abraham said, “The Lord will provide” and took the pressure off Himself.

It didn’t make sense that God would give Abraham a son, this child he waited so long for and then tell him to take his life. Don’t you know, Abraham was confused, no doubt, he had uncertainties, but Abraham’s attitude was: “God, I don’t understand what you are doing but I trust you”.

This is a key to faith: trust God when you don’t understand, trust God when you don’t have the answers and trust God when it seems like just the opposite of what you were hoping for. 

If you can’t take the pressure off you, it’s easy to get negative, and critical and say “God, why is it not working out”? The interesting thing is that what you do when you don’t understand, when it seems impossible can determine your outcome. 

And Abraham was about to sacrifice his son when an angel suddenly stopped him. He looked over and saw a ram caught in the bush. A Ram doesn’t normally go that high up in the mountain. Abraham sacrificed the ram instead of his son. He named that place Jehovah Jireh, which means the Lord our provider. (Genesis 22:14)

Whatever issue that is getting you worried, giving you sleepless nights or has even caused you to lose your joy, take the pressure off you and trust God completely. He who has called you is faithful!

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’ (Amen)