Come as a child, grown Christians.
I recall, some years ago, my electricity being turned off. I’d made an arrangement for an extension, but when the bill came due, I didn’t have the money to cover it.
I remember getting home from work one evening and walking into a dark apartment. It was almost 7:00 pm. I had planned to get home a little earlier, but I worked at a childcare center and we had a late pick-up after our six o’clock closing time. My cell phone served as my night light and all I could do was get ready for bed.
The next morning, as I got prepared for work, I searched my closet for something that didn’t need ironing. I went to work as usual and clocked in… then out as usual. On this day, my daddy called me. Well, hold on, my daddy called every day, but this day he asked questions.
After I answered and we said our “hellos”, he asked, “Are all your bills paid?” My daddy always seemed to know what was going on even if I hadn’t told him, hence his straight-forward questioning.
As I answered with a “no”, he waited for details. I let him know that my power was off, and his exact response was, “Man! Why didn’t you tell me?”
See, my daddy wasn’t upset that I couldn’t pay my bill on my own that month, he was upset that I didn’t go to him for help. He then said, “It costs me more to fix it after the fact than if you had just told me in the first place.”
Why didn’t I just ask my dad for the money? Y’all know why. Because I was trying to “adult”. I was supposed to be able to do it on my own… so I thought. Well, I was wrong.
Why Hide From God What He Already Knows?
See, so often, we treat God the way I treated my daddy. We don’t tell Him, with the hope that we can fix it ourselves. The problem is, sort of like my dad, God already knows what’s going on.
Many times, He waits for us to come to Him, but there are always times when He asks us for details. And well, you know the rest, you may as well just tell Him at this point. Uh huh… ’cause, He already knows.
From what I have experienced with God, His reaction is much like my dad’s, in that, He is more concerned with why I didn’t just turn to Him first. Like that electricity bill, “it costs more to fix it after the fact…” God just wants you to trust Him to do it when the problem first arises. I’m sure you’ve noticed that when you try handling stuff yourself, it gets blown way out of proportion. Our mess-ups lead us further away from Him than we anticipated and we find ourselves in a power outage.
So, What’s the Play Call?
Please understand that God knows the magnitude of your issues before you take them on. Here are a few things to recall before you decide to “adult” and keep matters in your own hands instead of God’s:
- God never asked you to fight for yourself – let God fight for you. Why waste your energy on a battle that He already said He’d handle? “For the Lord, your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” Deuteronomy 20:4
- God never called you your own shepherd – He wants to take care of you. Yeah, He does and it’s because you belong to Him. “Wherefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” Matthew 6:30
- God doesn’t make His children earn provision – He will give you the help you need. No matter what it is, trust Him with your problems, your issues, even your successes. “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” Isaiah 41:13
I know we set ourselves up sometimes. We really believe we can handle stuff on our own. But this time, please, let God foot the bill.
