Trusting Over Planning

I've been realizing lately how little I can actually plan for, primarily because there is very little I can control.

It's funny, as I was thinking through this today while making spreadsheets and looking through budgets and feeling the worry start to creep in about money and our future and everything in between, I came across Matthew 6: 25 - “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?" (NLT). I was thankful to have read that after spending the first few moments before full of uncertainty about the next step in life.

Just a few moments later I came across a post from Pastor Noah Herrin that read "Where you worry most shows where you trust God least", and I appreciated the wording of that phrase. Why was I worried about the future, didn't I believe God was in control of it?

Truthfully, this used to not make me feel better. Knowing that God was in control really didn't ease my worrying. However, believing that God is in control is an entirely different thing in itself. I found that truly believing that truth is when the peace started to flood in. I didn't know what our finances would look like in a year, and I honestly didn't need to. We would be faithful with what we had been given and trust God to take care of the rest. I was nervous about the uncertainty of my career change, but instead I looked back at God's faithfulness through my life and was able to rest in the fact that He has taken care of me and He will continue to take care of us now. Anything and everything that I could worry about is in God's hands, leaving no need for the anxious panic I often let creep in and control me. The Bible points us back to the character of God and emphasizes His faithfulness to provide. What more do we need?

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The idea of trusting over planning sounds so nice, but truthfully it is hard to put into practice some days. My mind gets the best of me and my worries run rampant, clouding my vision of God and His goodness. I am thankful His word reminds us so often of how in control He is, in the big and small. I am also thankful that He has never let me down in any circumstance, reminding me that even in these present unknowns He will make a way, and His way will always be better than whatever I could come up with anyways - praise God!

So bring your desires and your worries before God tonight. As you share these things with Him read over Matthew 6:25 and be flooded with peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7) knowing that He has already taken care of you and He has already made a way.

Lord thank you for caring so deeply for me, in the big moments of life and in the tiny details. Help me rest tonight knowing You have gone before me and already made a way. You are good and I can trust You in all things. You are so infinite, limited by nothing. Help me to remember this as I lay my fears and worries at Your feet.