Monday, September 20, 2010

What to Do

By Trisha Naten
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (2 Chronicles 20:12, NIV).

An Israelite named Uzzah lost his life because he “reached out and took hold of the ark of God” (2 Samuel 6:6).  The New Living Translation says “Uzzah put out his hand to steady the ark of God.”

He placed his hands on it with the best of intentions–but nonetheless, he had overstepped his boundaries by touching the Lord’s work.  Walking through the Christian life often requires us to leave things alone.  Among other things, this also applies to our children.  We have to take our hands off!

If we have completely entrusted our children to God—as we know we have to—there are times when we must “keep our hands off them.” He will guard them and even love them better than we can and He does not need our help. That is the time when we must “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways . . .” (Psalm 37:7).

Things in our lives may seem to be going all wrong— our kids may be stressing us out to the limit, but God knows our circumstances better than we do. He WILL intervene at the perfect moment if we completely trust Him to work in His own way and His own time. Often there is nothing as godly as inactivity on our part and nothing as harmful as our nervous, restless working to get our children to see things our way, or to get them to turn toward God.

God has already promised to work His sovereign will, so we must take our hands away and keep our eyes on God (2 Chronicles 20:12). When it involves our children or grandchildren, we need to memorize—and practice—Philippians 4:6-7, which says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (NKJV). Then we will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.