I’m struggling with having the ability to give my struggles over to God. The feeling of not having control or the lack of control has been a struggle.
You might think I’ve gone crazy, but I was actually thrilled when I heard this!
Why, you ask?
Because for this precious daughter of God to realize that she’s having trouble means that this is something she’s working towards. What a worthy pursuit!! 💎
I wholeheartedly believe that if we surveyed a large group of Christian women, we would find that a very high percentage of them struggle with this exact same thing. Giving our struggles over to God doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not something we can easily “feel” our way into. It involves more than feeling; we have to take action and do something.
But, what am I supposed to do?
Before I lay out four practical action steps you can take, we need to talk about trust.
The answer you’re looking for centers around trust.
If you’re having a hard time giving your struggles over to God, my best guess is that you don’t trust Him.
I know, I know, I know what you’re going to say. So, before you say, “But of course, I trust Him,” let me preface this by saying something loving: you trust Him less than you think.
And if we don’t trust God COMPLETELY, entirely, with every fiber of our being, we don’t know Him well enough or we haven’t paid close enough attention to see Him prove Himself faithful and trustworthy throughout our difficulties and trials in life thus far. It’s likely some combination of both.
Four Action Steps to Trust God More
👉 Start by reading your Bible
God’s promises never fail because God cannot lie and you can read all of those promises in the pages of Scripture.
You’ll find story after story of people who went through often very desperate situations and how God fulfilled His promises…every….single….time!
Observe how they trusted Him (or didn’t trust Him). Note what happened to people when they didn’t trust God. Those stories will make your head spin!
Who trusted in God in the Bible:
- Abraham – he trusted God so much so that he almost killed his only son, Isaac and an animal was provided instead to sacrifice (Genesis 22:1-14)
- Noah – he built an ark saving his family and he animals, despite opposition and never having even seen rain before (Genesis 6:13-9:29)
- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego – when they wouldn’t worship Nebuchadnezzar, they walked through literal fire and were not burned up (Daniel 3:1-18)
- Jesus – let’s not forget that Jesus also trusted God when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and willingly chose to obey the Father and gave up His life for us (Luke 22:42)
Who didn’t trust God in the Bible:
- Sarah – Abraham’s wife; when she overheard she was going to conceive a baby she initially didn’t trust God’s power over human ability (Genesis 18:9-15)
- Peter – when he was walking on water to the Lord, doubted his trust in God and started to sink (Matthew 14:27-31)
- Job’s wife – she told Job to curse God and die (Job 2:9)
- Jonah – he didn’t trust God to sovereignly take care of the situation with the people of Nineveh and instead heading in the opposite direction, not wanting to obey God’s command to him (book of Jonah)
- Lot’s wife – turned around in disobedience and was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26)
👉 Recall your personal testimony or conversion story
Spend a few minutes remembering what your life was like before you were saved.
Think back to who you were friends with, what you did for fun, and how you lived your life.
Consider all the ugly details and ways you used to dishonor God.
Then compare that to your new life in Christ.
Write down the ways God has changed you and transformed your life.
Keep doing this over the course of a few days if you need to until you can clearly see that He has never let you down before. Pray and ask God to show you ways He has been faithful and trustworthy in your life.
👉 Study the attributes of God
His holiness, righteousness, sovereignty, omnipotence, and immutability will get you pointed in the right direction.
Omnipotence means that He has the power over all things, at all times, and in all ways.
Immutability means He does not change.
Hebrews 13:8 tells us He is the same yesterday and today, and forever.
Start a fresh notebook, a clean document, or index card and start writing down the attributes of God and the corresponding verses.
Learning these should make you fall to your knees in awe-struck wonder.
If you’d like some help, we are going through the attributes of God in the shop. I’m working on all the attributes one at a time and the first one I started is God is love. You can do these packets with your kids. Check out all the Christian printables in the Faith section of my shop here!!
👉 Pray
Pray for God to give you a hunger to read your Bible and really crave understanding what His Word says. Ask God to help you find time in your schedule to read your Bible.
Pray that God would help you remember the details of your life before you became a Christian. Ask Him to open your eyes to the ways He’s been faithful to you, has carried you, and seen you through.
Pray, asking God to help you learn more of His attributes. Ask Him to open your heart and flood it with knowledge and wisdom to provide you with a deeper understanding of who He is.
My prayer is these exercises will help you focus so that you can increase your trust in God and therefore have an easier time handing your struggles over to Him.
As I shared earlier, if we don’t trust God completely, entirely, with every fiber of our being, we don’t know Him well enough or we haven’t paid close enough attention to see Him prove Himself faithful and trustworthy throughout our difficulties and trials in life.
