Give It Up

It is the natural inclination of a person to always want to "fix" things, and do so themselves.  The idea of giving up is not really in our nature.  What do the scriptures say?


I Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.


There are a couple things to note here.  One is that there is no promise here of an instant fix, or some sort of miracle as you would think of wanting.   When we humble ourselves and cast our cares upon Him, the promise is that in DUE TIME we may be exalted.  Part of humbling ourselves would be to trust that God knows the DUE TIME and to not fret about those cares.  Our adversary would love to get us all caught up in worry about things of the world and steal away our peace, joy, love, and witness.  We can resist those temptations knowing that even though we do suffer for a while, we will be made perfect, established, strong, and settled.


Jesus says in Mathew 11:
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.


Jesus here hands out an invitation to those who are overcome with the cares of this world and the problems they present.  He says to look to Him, not necessarily to solve all the problems you are worrying about, but that instead of being so stressed about them, so burdened by them, so overwhelmed; you will find rest in Him and through Him.  If we look to Jesus and learn of Him instead of focusing on our problems, we are promised rest for our souls. 


When we take upon the yoke of Jesus, He is leading us.  His ways lead us to peace and rest within our souls, even though all around us chaos may reign.  Through Him we find rest instead of weariness, hope instead of heartbreak, peace instead of tumult, love instead of anger, caring instead of hostility.  He leads us to those good things if we humble ourselves and take His yoke upon us.  Then we need not worry about the other stuff.  Yes, we still have to do things, and bad things will still happen, but we will no longer let those things overwhelm us, or take our focus.  We will remain in peace if we keep our eyes on Jesus.