We carry many heavy burdens on our shoulders when we believe that we have to solve all of our challenges on our own. I see my most trying and difficult experiences or circumstances as challenges instead of problems. A challenge is not a hopeless, useless or deadend situation--it is an opportunity for me to learn and grow as a person. There is always a powerful lesson hidden inside every challenge. Our job is to work through the challenge and find the lesson.
A few years ago, I had to deal with a difficult person on a regular basis. This person was petty and conniving in the worse ways. I simply grew tired of dealing with childish behavior. I just could not seem to find a happy medium with this person. Every solution that I tried seemed to backfire. I was worrying and stressing about this person way too much.
One day, I just surrendered the whole situation to God. I had to admit that I did not know how to solve this situation beyond what I had done. I had grown tired to feeling totally responsible for solving this challenging situation all on my own. Too much of my mental energy was going toward this situation, which meant I had less energy for my work. In surrendering this challenge to God, I asked Him to find a solution that was mutually beneficial to all parties. I forgave this person as much as I could at that moment. An immediate solution did not appear, but I felt calmer about this person than I had before. I no longer felt the need to worry about this person because I was completely trusting that God was working on a solution.
The moment that I surrendered this challenging situation to God, my spirit felt lighter. I knew that I did not have to do it all by myself. I had complete faith that God would solve this situation. I let go of it. I stopped worrying about how it was going to be solved or when it would be solved. I just trusted God to handle it. With each passing day, I thought less about the challenge or possible solutions. Three months later, the difficult person walked out of my life completely.
I am testifying to the power and wisdom of asking God to solve your greatest challenges instead of carrying the heavy burden on your shoulders alone. In asking God to solve your challenges, you are not taking the easy way out or being irresponsible. You are simply asking for help. God wants to help us--all we have to do is just ask. Why keep burdening yourself with a situation that you cannot solve alone? Let God work miracles in your life. Just ask and He will answer your call for help.
In surrendering, we give up control over the outcome. We may think that we always have to be in control, but we are not ever really totally in control. We like to order the way we want our lives to work, but it is not completely up to us to order the "how." We are always in partnership with God. It is not up to us to tell God how to solve the challenge. We must trust His judgment. We must have faith that the solution will be a win-win for everyone involved. We cannot ask for help with a heart filled with revenge. Our heart should be open and filled with love and forgiveness toward ourselves and others involved.
Resist expecting immediate results. We turn over our challenges to God and expect the solution to arrive in a week or less. If it does not come soon enough, then we give up and assume that the Creator has abandoned us in our time of need. We never know when or how our solutions will come. When we ask for help, we have to learn how to develop a deep reservior of faith to carry us through until our circumstances change for the better. Every day can be seen as being one more day closer to the tide shifting in our lives instead of being another day mired in difficulty without any end in sight. Faith and trust must rule over fear and doubt when it comes to solutions.
Surrendering is hard because it can make us feel powerless and helpless over our lives. Surrendering has nothing to do with being powerless or helpless. We all have choices in how we deal with our lives. We can fight our battles alone or we can seek support. Our culture creates the myth of the hero fighting his battles alone as being something that we should aspire to do, but we can choose to seek help. Surrendering is more courageous than fighting alone. It requires us to be humble and get our ego out of the way since our ego wants us to go it alone. If the word, "surrendering" conjures up images of weakness, then change it to something more empowered such as "hand over or give" your challenges to the Creator. The point to remember is that you never have to go it alone.
Whatever challenge looms in your life, I encourage you to surrender it to God. Trust that everything will work out. Be open to all the ways everything can work out. Most importantly, completely surrender your challenge. Get out of the way. Resist worrying about it any more. Try not to think about how everything will work out or when your situation will improve. Just have faith that a solution is coming. Expect it to come, but go on with your life. Keep worry, fear and doubt out of your mind, even if the situation becomes worse before it gets better. When your life does improve, give thanks and praise.
Affirmations: I surrender my challenges to God. I allow God to work miracles in my life everyday.
Copyright©2009 Jeannine Robinson All Rights Reserved