Lisa had been driving around for the last two months without insurance. She let her boyfriend use her car one weekend, and he totaled it. Thankfully, he is okay, but Lisa is in quite the bind. Rent is due, her job is ten miles away from her apartment building and relying on her mom for transportation just isn’t going to cut it. With a wreaked car and no insurance compensation, she’s freaking out and is desperate for money. She thinks her only alternative is to try to get a loan, which will leave her with a very high-interest rate, and a huge debt on top of what she already has.
Proverbs 19:20(ESV) says, “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” This is a jewel of good sense that will work to our advantage our entire lives, but we all know that we don’t always put this wisdom into practice. Our grandmothers and mothers learned the hard way, and they were gracious and loving enough to pass on good sense and sound judgment to us. They told us not to be foolish when it comes to handling and protecting the blessings that God has given us. We know better, but there are times in life when we just don’t listen to advice and accept good instruction.
All wisdom comes from God, and it is available to us through His Word. That’s where our wise veterans received it, and that’s where we can obtain it as well. We find ourselves in troublesome situations because some of us simply will not heed, read, and study the Word. Without this, we can’t build our faith in God’s power and willingness to bless us. Even so, we can be assured that God doesn’t leave us to face the consequences of our poor choices alone. No matter the quandaries we sometimes find ourselves in, God has provided a way for us to overcome and prosper in every situation. That’s why it is so important to seek Him and listen to His instruction.
Ephesians 5:15(ESV) warns, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.” In other words, we must to be ever so careful about the decisions and choices we make, because they could cause us a lot of headache and heartache down the road. We know this, but still we self-sabotage. We allow our feelings and love for a person to steer our decision making, when wisdom should be the captain in all situations. We can make some doozies when we listen to our emotions rather than listening to God’s wisdom, but this is no surprise to our Heavenly Father. God knows every detail of our lives, and He knows what we’re going to do before we do it. He does not punish us for our mistakes. He wants to help us, so that we become wiser and develop better judgment.
We tend to want to take control of our lives, and when we run into trouble, we overestimate our ability to handle situations. Our way of thinking can land us in disaster, and it is because we lack faith in God and won’t yield to His wisdom. A lack of faith in God is the biggest cause of disappointment and devastation in life. We refuse to surrender everything over to Christ because we want control over situations and will not acknowledge that our lives don’t belong to us, they belong to God.
In Matthew 11:28-30, our Lord and Savior invites all that are heavy with burdens to come to him, because he is the only One that can give us rest. He tells us that he is humble and gentle at heart. How could we not fall madly in love with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? He has all power in his hands. He is King of a Kingdom that has no end, yet, he tells us that he is humble. He loves us and is inviting us to come abide in him and accept the rest that he offers.
Even when we make mistakes, especially when we make mistakes, Jesus Christ invites us to come to him with our burdens. We desperately need to accept his help, and this is what Lisa failed to realize. She refused to believe that in a situation where further entangling herself in debt seemed like the only answer, Jesus Christ is always the best solution, and the best answer can always be found in him.
When we have too much of a tight grip on the situations of our lives, we squeeze God out of it. We then leave ourselves exposed to the plots and tricks of darkness. God doesn’t want this, and He is always willing to come to our rescue no matter the issue. We must remember that God is the Father and we’re the children. He leads, we follow. The relationship with us that He has established is one where we loosen the grip, take our hands completely off the steering wheel of our lives, and surrender to God completely. This is how we invite Him into all areas of our lives and allow Him full access and total control. When we do this, we’ll witness His grace and power, and we’ll learn that trusting Him and His wisdom is the best answer to all of life’s issues. ■
English Standard Version (ESV), The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
“Loosen Your Grip”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.