Yesterday, I introduced the concept of Bite-Sized Bible Nuggets,
breaking down the wisdom of a godly, older man into three of his
basic bite-sized pieces of Biblical advice.
I began with
Today, we need to take another bite-sized nugget and chew on
"leave it with the Lord."
As Christians, we know we should pray, and we do.
Sometimes, we give Him burdens in prayer,
and take them back with worry.
We pray about burdens,
but we're telling Him how He should answer.
We might be willing to accept His answer,
but in our timetable, which is usually
now or yesterday.
Even when we're wronged in this world,
we may expect Him to vindicate us according to our plans.
Our dear friend John not only gave this advice,
he lived by it.
He had worked his way to Vice President of a local bank
and was going to retire with a nice pension after 35 years of service.
The younger executives decided to change the retirement plan
to a more current 401k plan just a few years before his retirement.
He lost a sizeable chunk of his retirement,
his faithful savings and provision evaporated.
We were angry and thought something should be done.
John did something about it.
He left it with the Lord.
Twenty years later, he still lives frugally, but not bitterly.
He has trusted the Lord to provide.
When we were mistreated by believers he told us,
"leave it with the Lord."
When we were grieving over souls he told us,
"leave it with the Lord."
When past painful memories ripped at our hearts he told us,
"leave it with the Lord."
When we were falsely accused he told us,
"leave it with the Lord."
When Christians took advantage of us financially he told us,
"leave it with the Lord."
It wasn't a pat answer, it was a promised victory.
The Lord Jesus laid down His life,
so we can lay down our burdens.
We bring them with tears and agony,
then, trust and wait for
As John has urged me for decades,
I urge you with love and prayers for your burden,
"leave it with the Lord."
Please join us for the final bite - "this too shall pass."
Thanks - I needed that.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I noticed you've been homeschooling for a long time. Me, too! We've been at it since kindergarten. My oldest graduated last year, and my youngest will graduate in May. Yikes...I guess that means I'll be retiring. I'll miss it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway...just wanted to say hello. God bless!
So true...if only I could remember that in the middle of one of my "fits" or worry!!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to thank you for your great comment on my Mama Buzz post today regarding Nurturing a Bookworm. I might use your "Reading Lunch" idea and I thought that collecting characters from favorite books for acting out stories is a fabulous plan!!
ReplyDeleteTracey, so glad you loved the ideas. It spurred me on to think about blogging about those things.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, thanks for stopping by. I always love to have comments. Retiring? Good for you! I have ten years left...
Queenie, it's been so fun getting to know you, thanks for stopping by.
Dana, thankful for the Lord's timing. I've been loving getting to know you better now that we have much more in common - hubby and kids!