by Creflo Dollar
Most of us would agree that life can sometimes be cruel and unfair. We do the best we can under the circumstances with what we’ve got, but sometimes our hopes and dreams can still be dashed. We may subscribe to the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” philosophy to get ourselves out of a bad situation; however, sometimes all our hard work still falls short. At times like this, we need to let go of our self-effort and let God’s grace into our lives.
Grace is unearned, undeserved favor. God loves us and doesn’t want us to struggle with issues; He wants to be able to come alongside us and give us favor to help through painful situations. However, He can only do this when we trust Him enough to allow Him to shoulder the burdens. Letting them go gives us rest from the toil of dragging along heavy emotional baggage. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
God’s shoulders are much broader and stronger than ours. Learning to rest from our self-efforts means leaning on Him when trouble hits. He’ll intervene on our behalf, but only when we stop working so hard and let God go to work on the problem. “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his”(Hebrews 4:10). The knowledge that God, Himself, is handling the issue much better than we ever could gives us peace of mind.
In the Old Testament, the people lived by the Law of Moses, which required constant self-effort. When Jesus came, He established grace, which requires faith in God’s abilities instead of in our own. No matter how hard we try, there are some things only God can do. Acknowledging this and stepping out of His way allows Him to rearrange things in our favor. “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10).
God wants the best in life for us. His grace, not our efforts, is responsible for good things happening. When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, God’s favor provided them with blessings they didn’t earn. “And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat” (Joshua 24:13). Whatever issues we’re facing, we can depend on His favor to move us out of them.
There will always be situations in which no matter what we do, nothing comes of our efforts. We all have our limitations, but God has no limits. We use our secret weapon when we unleash Him on the issue and stand back. The results will be something for which we won’t be able to take the credit. “This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:23).
Trouble is no match for us when we trust in God’s grace instead of in our own labors.
Sometimes instead of telling God about the problem, we should instead tell the problem about God. Doing this gives us the advantage over adversity.