Recently, my children and I were unloading groceries from my car. I grabbed anything heavy that they wouldn’t be able to carry and left the rest to them (they are beginning to have more chores and responsibilities).  At one point, my daughter walked in carrying a massive load and exclaimed dramatically, “Daddy, what do I need to do with all this stuff?!?  It’s too heavy for me!!!  I can’t even clap my hands they’re so full!” The last part of her statement didn’t fit and I asked, “What did you say?”  She responded more forcefully,“Dad, it’s heavy!  What do I do?”  I responded with a laugh, “Throw it down at my feet, silly!  Why are you carrying all that stuff in the first place?”  She dropped the items on the floor and responded with a shrug, “I don’t know.”  Then I followed up on her prior statement,“Why did you say you couldn’t clap your hands?”  Again, she responded, “I don’t know,” as she giggled and ran off to grab more groceries.  I was struck with a thought in that moment, how many times have I come into a worship service and felt overwhelmed with all that’s going on around me and not been able to focus on Him?  How many times have I come before God with my hands so full of stuff (worries,anxiety, frustrations, burdens, questions I needed answered etc.) that it became impossible for me to concentrate on just being in the presence of God?  The answer is, more times than I care to admit. 

I can’t find a single scripture in the Bible that tells me God wants me to handle everything on my own. I haven’t found a single scripture that implies God desires me to worry myself to death over things I have no control over.  Actually, the Bible says just the opposite…..on both accounts.  As He promised His disciples,when Jesus left this earth, the Father sent the Holy Spirit to bring us an invaluable gift.  John 14:27 states, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This gift we’ve been given doesn’t keep us from enduring the troubles of life, but it does give us an unexplainable peace amid the chaos.  Some of the storms we deal with are due to our bad decisions.  Sometimes, the issues we endure are a testing of our faith.  Our problems are not the real issue.  The real issue is the fact we choose to control each situation rather than allowing God to take care of it.  Are you carrying around a lot of heavy stuff today?  It’s simple, throw it down at His feet and worship! 

Closing remarks and encouragement:  God never expected us to live this life without His help.  We’ve been given so many tools to help us maneuver the hurdles of life but we have to employ them.  Need peace? Accept it.  It’s that simple.  Need the answer to a problem?  Shut up long enough for God to speak and give you guidance (I’m preaching to myself here).  Do you need God to intervene?  Get out of the way and allow Him to.  Rather than spending so much time trying to fix every detail, we would get more accomplished if we would just lift our hands to worship.  The answer will come.  He’s always on time.  Just worship while you wait.