"Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find;
knock, and the door will be opened to you."
Luke 11:9
As long as I can remember,
when worry came calling
or life took a hard turn,
my mother would say,
"Put it in God's hands."
Simple words.
Steady words.
Words that carried me farther
than I knew at the time.
But somewhere along the way,
I grew up and grew confident.
I thought I could handle it myself.
Carry the burden.
Fix the problem.
Find the answer.
So instead of putting it in God's hands,
I held on tighter with my own.
The truth is,
I wasn't strong enough.
I wasn't wise enough.
And I certainly wasn't built
to carry what only God can carry.
Paul would have had a word for that.
Maybe even two.
Foolish.
Stupid.
Because how quickly we forget.
When life gets heavy,
or even when life gets quiet,
our first reaction is often self-reliance.
We work harder.
Push longer.
Try to solve spiritual problems
with human strength.
Yet Paul asks a piercing question:
"After beginning with the Spirit,
are you now trying to finish with the flesh?"
What a reminder.
The peace we enjoy,
the grace we receive,
and the Spirit who lives within us
were never earned.
They came by faith.
They came through Jesus.
When we trust ourselves more than Him,
we trade God's limitless mercy
for our own fragile willpower.
And that's never a good exchange.
Jesus shows us a better way.
God is not a reluctant neighbor
hiding behind a locked door.
He is a loving Father
who delights in giving good gifts
to His children.
He invites us to ask.
To seek.
To knock.
Not because we've earned His favor,
but because His grace is abundant.
So today,
whatever burden you're carrying,
whatever worry you're holding,
return it to the One
who can handle it.
Put it in God's hands.
And rest in His grace.
Prayer
Lord,
I place into Your hands
the burdens I was never meant to carry.
Teach me to trust Your grace
more than my strength,
and to rest in the peace
only You can give.
Amen.
