RELEASE IT!

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I was sitting with a dejected fella yesterday at the JEREMIAH TREE. He needing some “practical”stuff; housing, some direction, and employment but as we chatted and got to know one another a little something else became clear.

He needed much more than just a roof and a job.

His life was a mess. He was dealing with betrayal, confusion, emptiness, anger, and hurt. He was glazed over and not from some opiate rush or the effects of a hangover, life was winning and he was losing and he was numb from the flogging life was dishing out.

He was hopeless. He was helpless. He was harried. He was hurting.

I am so that thankful that along with the roof and the job I could confidently offer him what he truly needed; JESUS.

The truth is Jesus does his BEST work when we are, like my new friend; at the end of it. Jesus can pick up the pieces of broken marriages and messy situations and fashion beauty from the wreck.

Isaiah 61:3

To all who mourn … he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

Jesus has the amazing and supernatural ability to breathe hope and life into the most desperate of circumstances. Our job is to LET HIM.

My new friend had been fighting these problems for weeks and had gotten nowhere. He tried to medicate them away. He tried to brute force them back into line. He tried to run away. But all of those strategies failed.

What He needed to do was GIVE all of it to Jesus and step away!

Matthew 11:28

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

But I am certain he is not alone.

All of us have times in our lives when life and its problems overwhelm and rock us. And I am quite sure that many just like this fella go into “self-sufficiency and self-preservation” mode the minute those challenges surface. We, like he, wade into the fight with guns blazing determined to “fix” things on our own.

Why?

Jesus does His best work when the task seems unmanageable and when the trial is too great. That is why instead of fighting, Jesus encourages us to “give it to Him”.

1 Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

I know it seems counter-intuitive, but it is the TRUTH! We just need to trust that TRUTH!

As my new friend and I closed out our talk, I was reminded of just one more validation that Jesus DOES INDEED do His best I work when we can do no more.

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Perhaps you are looking a problem or a circumstance and seeing no way out; no hope; no possibilities.

Stop fighting. Start releasing.

Give it Jesus. He wants it. He will work it for you. And He will HELP!

Hebrews 2:18

...He (JESUS)...experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.

I love you all…

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney