‘Throw off everything that hinders. Run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’ - Hebrews 12:1
Now I know I've written a lot in the past about giving things over to God and giving up control, but recently I read something that made me realise another factor as to why it's so important that we do trust God with our everything;
- There’s a story that a preacher tells about a little boy. ‘One day a boy who has a bag of marbles proposes a trade with a little girl who has a bag of candy. The girl gladly agrees. But as the boy gets out his marbles, he realises that he can’t bear to part with some of them. Rather dishonestly, he takes three of his best marbles and hides them under his pillow. The boy and girl make the trade, and the girl never knows he has cheated her. But that night while the girl lies fast asleep, the boy has no peace. He’s wide awake, pondering a question that nags at him: I wonder if she kept her best candy too?’ Like that little boy, many of us walk through life plagued by the question ‘has God given me His best?’ But the question that we must answer first is ‘am I giving God my best?’ You and I will never experience God’s best until we give God our all. We’ve held on to old attitudes, foolishly clutching a lifestyle that the world tells us will bring fulfilment. God asks us to hand it all over to Him. Where are you right now? Have you given God everything within you, or do you still hold your favourite marbles in your hands?
I found this so challenging to read because it makes you realise that through not giving God your everything, there’s reason for your mind to doubt and distrust that God has given you everything. Ever noticed that when you lie to someone about something, it becomes much harder to trust what they say in reply? You know that their response is based on your dishonesty, and so it becomes difficult to believe their honesty. The same goes with this. Hold back from God, and you won't be able to believe that He isn't holding back from you. You'll subconsciously get the mentality of 'I withheld from Him, so what's stopping Him from withholding from me?'
I propose we do something about this; do something to eradicate any reason for doubt and distrust. Let's all identify and hand over one marble that we're holding onto. One marble that isn’t allowing us to fully believe God has given us His best. For me that means giving up trying to 'play God' in something that's going on in my life right now; I’ve still been holding on to a few strings in case I’ve needed to pull them, and have still allowed myself to believe that I actually have any control as to what happens. But that’s hindered my ability to trust that God has it all under control and will bring everything towards His end plan; has put doubts in my mind and questions on my heart.
It's time for us to stop that from happening anymore. Time to hand over these precious marbles. This is an incredible opportunity to grow in God and have a deeper relationship with Him. I’m excited to see what happens. Excited to see and know that God really has given me His best. By giving up 'playing God', I'll be able to watch good things play out and know that it's not happening because of anything I've done; it's happening because God is a good God who works all things for my good (Romans 8:28). Anything that happens, I'll be able to look at knowing that it is 100% God's works. I won't have reason to wonder if it's actually only happened because I interjected and played a certain card. Giving up the marble causes all the other sources that you could point the finger at to be removed, and results in only God being left. Meaning that there can be no doubt in your mind that it is He who is pouring His blessings onto you and working your situations in a way that will serve you the best they possibly can.
The most important thing in this is that we do, honestly, give God our marble. Don't be like the boy in the story and say to God, 'okay, here, have this marble', but then still keep hold of a part of it. That completely defies the point of this. Give it to God and say, 'here's my marble God, I'm trusting in you to keep it safe'. Throw off everything that hinders (Hebrews 12:1). He isn't going to take it from us if we aren't willing to let go of it. He's not going to act like a child and, when we refuse to let go of it, come and snatch it away from us. He will wait patiently like a parent does when they ask their child to give over something they shouldn't have. And then, like a parent, He will treasure and guard that marble, knowing how important it is to us.
Now comes the hard part though; God’s hand is outstretched, the marble in your fingers hovering just above His palm. It’s time to release your hold, to drop the marble and allow Him to catch it.
It’s time to trust.
It's time to let go, and let God.