We are humbled by life. We either have been, will be, or currently are being brought to our knees with the glaring truth that we can’t do this on our own. The good news, the best news, is that we don’t have to. This happens to me on a daily basis. I think I can do this on my own and I usually try. I fail 99/100 times. We are raised and encouraged throughout life, by others and usually ourselves, that we can handle our own problems, trials, and circumstances. We believe the lie that if there is something to fix, we can do it! . I am still learning this as my confidence increases from good circumstances and blessings and I forget that God provided it and my ego tells me “Good job, you worked hard and look what happened.” While confidence is admirable character trait, this is one of those times when we need to put that aside and call on God to save us from ourselves
In passing on a quote from a pastor I listen to, Joby Martin, “…the three most dangerous words you can say in this area is ‘I. Got. This.’” The truth is, you don’t. The truth is, that is your ego talking, which is from Satan, because he doesn’t want you to rely on God. He wants you to rely on your own understanding. This is opposite of the verse, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5) Your understanding of the situation, the consequences, the outcomes, the strategy, is all imperfect because you are imperfect. When we think we’ve got the solution, at worst, it will fail and at best, it won’t be what God had set out for you so it still won’t be that good. So ask for help. Ask God to intercede for you and through you; to have the wisdom and trust to follow Him and not your own understanding. Further, you don’t even have to understand, you just have to trust. The verse doesn’t say to somehow decipher what God is doing and trust that, or get the roadmap from Him, study it, then trust it. It just says trust in God. Simple but not easy.
The first step is prayer. Since we have affirmed that you “don’t got this,” we can open the prayer with humility and say “God, I don’t have this. I don’t have control and I don’t understand what is going on. I don’t know what I’m doing. But I know You do. You are sovereign over my life. You alone know what is best for me and I hand this (fill in the blank) over to you. Lord, I trust you.” Through this prayer, we are admitting to God our insufficiency, so we can begin to dismantle our own ego and remove is as a stumbling block in our path to God. We are humbly asking for His intercession. We speak our trust is Him, using the proverb to reinforce what God has told us to do; lean not on our own understanding.
We can also ask others for help. This may be concrete help but more importantly, I believe, is asking for their prayers. ““Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18: 19-20) Jesus is giving a guarantee, that when only a few believers ask for anything good, it will be given to them. And God WANTS to help you. He wants you to accept His lordship over your life so He can provide you with the best life, beyond your imagination. There is power in prayer and strength in numbers. When you put those two together, you become unstoppable. So let your guard down and ask for help.
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