How to let go and let God be God in your life

I may know a lot about my faith, but do I really know how to let go and let God control my future? Do you?Last weekend I slipped away for a getaway with some of my high school girlfriends.You can imagine how much there is to talk about when 10 old friends hang out together for 3 days.We chatted about children and grandchildren, retirement, high school memories, travel, caring for our elderly parents, our aging bones, movies ... and we laughed — a lot.But some of our girl-talk revolved around how much has changed during our lifetime—especially the amount of information available at our fingertips, thanks to the internet.As a culture, we can access almost anything we need to know online, but are we the wiser for it?

Gone are the skills of waiting and pondering

The ability to weigh a circumstance over a long period and consider wise responses is lacking in our current culture.We want instant information and instant results. We want uncomfortable circumstances resolved in 30 minutes or less just like in the sitcoms.I don't think many people today could have waited and pondered a tough situation like Mary did when she found out she was going to be impregnated supernaturally.Just the thought of giving birth to the Savior of the world had to have been overwhelming.AND Mary was engaged. How would this go over with her intended?

Mary's life was permanently interrupted

Whatever future she had envisioned for herself, it certainly wasn't this!Most young people today would have posted the angel's announcement on Instagram as soon as the angel had zipped out of sight.Not Mary.

• She didn't choose notoriety.
• She didn't panic.
• She didn't argue.
• She didn't struggle to figure her future out.

But you can bet she thought on her situation 24/7, weighing the words of the angel and considering them carefully.What she couldn't understand, she accepted.She knew that God acts on behalf of those who wait for Him (Isaiah 64:4).So Mary let go of the life she had planned and rested in the waiting.

Christmas reminds us to let go and let God fashion our future

During this season of Advent, I'm resting in the waiting. I'm pondering, letting the Spirit whisper deep in my spirit as I live life more simply, more deeply, and more richly.I have no idea what this new stage of my life is going to be like, but I'm excited to walk with Jesus as I find out.

What about you?

When your life is interrupted by the unexpected ... or even the expected ... how are you choosing to walk into it?Are you:

• Worried that God has forgotten His promises to you?
• Processing your situation with your girlfriends over and over AND over again ... and getting nowhere?
• Trying to fit your own plans into whatever God has planned for you?
• Holding so tight to your dreams that God can't get a blessing in edgewise?

Or are you like Mary:

• Trusting that if God has given you a promise, then He'll be responsible for fulfilling it in His timing and in His way?
• Pondering the ways of the Lord in your life?
• Learning to live deeply and simply?
• Letting go of your plans and resting in the waiting?

THAT'S wisdom.And it can't seep through the internet into your soul. It only comes through waiting and pondering and letting God be God in your life.In what area of your life can you let go and let God be YOUR God?Just thought I'd ask.Hugs,SusanP.S. For more like this, read How to find peace when life doesn't go as planned.