SCRIPTURE: “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10 KJV)
QUOTE: “The happiest people I know are the ones who have learned how to hold everything loosely and have given the worrisome, stress-filled, fearful details of their lives into God’s keeping.–Charles R. Swindoll
NOTE:
You can’t say you trust the Lord, but then hang on to your struggle with both hands. Here’s a tip that I always gave my kids when they were little, if they were scared of something or had a problem. I told them to imagine putting their problem into a box and wrapping it up with a big red bow. Then imagine handing that gift over to Jesus. When you give Jesus your problem, it’s important to let it go and let Him take over. I recently did this because I struggled with forgiveness. I had a hard time forgiving someone and it had been a burden for a long time. Even when God led me to read Job 42:10, what a struggle in letting it go! It reminded me of the tug of war I mentioned earlier.
But I gave that burden in its entirety over to the Lord by taking practical steps, I wrote the person and said, ‘concerning that matter, I forgive you.” Immediately, forgiveness was released, the Holy Spirit came in to fully restore our relationship and also restored joy to me. By that experience I realized what a huge hindrance unforgiveness is my well-being.
ILLUSTRATION:
“So, the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters.”
REFLECTION:
What is in your life or around you that you are finding hard to let go?
TWO YEAR BIBLE READING: Job 38 – 39, Psalm 124