Won’t God do it? This is a statement we’ve all heard, but the real question is do we truly believe it? Do we even walk in it?
In the present day, we live in a hustle culture where if we’re not working, we’re labeled as lazy or useless by the masses. In our society, we’re expected to always be able to solve every issue that jumps in our path. And if we’re not able to resolve it, then we’re instantly deemed not working “hard enough” and other things along those lines. So is the single mother to multiple children, working multiple jobs who are barely making ends meet for her family and herself, lazy because she can’t seem to pull herself above her circumstances enough to breathe and finally get ahead? Is the African-American who does and accomplishes everything society deems successful, but still can’t seem to be seen as successful like their other more racially prominent and socially accepted counterparts, also lazy due to them existing in a system that wasn’t created for individuals who look like them (POC) to succeed socially or economically? Again, is this individual lazy or less than? I believe, in both of these instances, the commonality is that there will always be factors out of our control. No matter how hard we work or what we try, there will always be moments in our lives where our best intentions and efforts just aren’t enough.
In these instances, we try and work harder and harder to better our circumstances, further putting our imprint on the situation and trying to resolve things ourselves in whatever way we can, morally right or unright. When we do this, we tend to make the situation worse due to carrying those burdens alone. In doing this, we leave God out of them entirely and carry things God never intended for us to bear in the first place. As a result, we feel anxious, fearful, and worrisome. All of these things combined tend to lead us to feeling “burned-out”, but with God, things tend to look and feel bearable (Matthew 11:28-29).
I believe we all can remember instances in our lives where we made our situations worse than they already seemed, thinking we have to fix it, only we know what to do, saying, “Maybe God can’t do this for me”, and a multitude of other reasons we’ve conjured up. In these moments we work and worry ourselves into a grave trying to resolve an issue. A perfect example of worrying and taking matters into our own hands in the Bible is the story of Abraham and Sarah. God promised Abraham that in his older age, he and Sarah would have a child (Genesis 18:10-14). In our flesh, we could understand Sarah’s doubt and disbelief, which normal people wouldn’t. However, we know God’s word cannot return void (Isaiah 55:11). But do our actions and faith resemble this type of trust in him? We know that Sarah took matters into her own hands and the issues that came after her decision-making, things that God never meant to happen. I believe we’ve all had instances where we didn’t wait on God or trust him enough to see how He would provide in our dire circumstances. So what are we left to do? I believe the answer lies in our actions and where we place our individual faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).
I can personally attest to how fearful, lost, hopeless, and worried sick I’ve been when I’ve taken on my own everyday burdens. But I can also attest to the peace and freedom I felt when I literally gave those very burdens to God and kept them there. Something I’ve dealt with in the past and even presently is being willing to release it to God. Having to trust my waiting isn’t in vain, and in the end, I get what I hoped for in the beginning. I believe that’s what a lot of the burnout we all may experience stems from, our wanting to control the outcome.
I believe the only outcome we can control is where we place our faith and trust and knowing when we grow weak or when things become too big or impossible to bear, God is there (Isaiah 40:31).
Before I gave my life to Christ, at the peak of my sinful behavior and trash I was involved in, I remember seeing this video about a smart Christian girl I knew detailing to everyone how God paid for her entire graduate school and she was debt free. I remember that was around the same time I began hoping to go to graduate school. But at the same time I was doubting my academic performance ability, questioning how to get there or where to start, and most notably how would I even pay for it coming from a poor economic background. I felt horrible because I blindly thought due to me being entangled in all the sins I was at that time, there was no way God could or would do something like that for a lowly old me. I remember scrambling and worrying in every direction to aspire to get to that position on my own accord because I didn’t trust God enough to do something of that magnitude for me. I, too, remember openly saying to God, “Could you do that for me?” Three years later from that exact moment, I’m entering my last year of graduate school on a full-ride scholarship. I hope my testimony strengthens you to believe in God, give him your worries to him, and simply trust him because God loves and cares for us all (Luke 12:27-28).
