As we enter the Holiday season you may find yourself making lists: grocery lists, gift lists, Christmas card lists, menus & food lists, you name it. This is the season of lists.
Even Santa has a list and according to the song, he’s checking it twice. But, I digress.
Lists tend to keep us on track and on point. They are meant to minimize the busy-ness and chaos of our thoughts and action packed calendars. Lists aren’t just a Holiday occurrence, but do tend to get more participants during this part of the year.
Over the past few years I have become a maker of lists: prayer list, shopping list, to do list, things to pack, projects to complete, short term goals, long term goals … the list goes on and on. I haven’t always been a list maker, but as I have “matured”, I find my memory isn’t what it used to be. So, I make lists to eliminate the need to remember and to minimize the things I might forget.
One thing I noticed about my lists, is that I don’t always complete the whole list. Sometimes, I find that I either carry forward an item to a new list, delegate the item to someone else, or upon further thought, decide that a particular thing isn’t list worthy. In other words, I can do without it or find that it no longer needs to be done.
Creating and maintaining lists can be cumbersome and time consuming and many people find that this task can become just another thing to do in an otherwise busy day. Others find lists a way of focusing on what they want to accomplish. For this group of people, lists become a place of organizational calm in the midst of their hectic lives.
In my early adult life, I identified with the first group – just another thing to do. Now, I am leaning towards that second group. I find that often my mind is so busy processing my thoughts and mentally flagging things I need to do, that making a list has become a way to organize and prioritize my thoughts so I don’t drive myself crazy.
Recently I was reading a book from one of my favorite Christian fiction authors, Dee Henderson. In the book, her main character was worrying over a problem and said, “I’ll move that over to God’s list”.
That concept captured my attention in a big way. God’s List? Does He have a list? Does that list vary from person to person? Does He have a list for me and my life? If so, what kind of things are on it? Am I able to delegate things to God?
After wrestling with this thought for a few days, I went to the Source; the Word of God.
1 Peter 5:7 clearly states
“Casting all your care (or anxiety) on Him because He cares for you.” (NIV)
Isn’t this saying “delegate” your anxiety (and the things that might cause anxiety) to God. That might be just my interpretation, so I dug a bit deeper and found that yes, God has specific items for His children. Things that go far beyond just taking on our cares and anxieties. He has plans for us much like we might have for our children.
Here are some of the things that are on God’s list for every believer. As you read the list, fill in the blanks with your name.
Extend Mercy to ______ today. Lamentations 3:22-23
Remind ________ of my unfailing love. Psalm 143:8
Give __________ direction in his/her decisions. Psalm 37:23
Work all things that happen today into my plans for ________. Romans 8:28
Supply _________’s needs. Philippians 4:19
Gift to _______ my unlimited and unmerited Grace. Ephesians 1:7-8
Extend forgiveness to ______. Daniel 9:9
Grant ______ the desires of his/her heart even as he/she delights in me. Psalm 37:4
Remind ______ that I have already given him/her peace. John 14:27
Provide my strength to ______ in areas where he/she is weak. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Prompt ______ to give his/her worries and anxiety to me. 1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 55:22
Continue completing the work that I have started in ______. Philippians 1:6
To say that I was amazed is an understatement. I’m sure this isn’t even close to a complete list, but as I read these 12 promises and personalized them into a list with me as the focus, I could feel my spirit soar and God’s peace surround me. And as with my lists, I am even able to see that some of these items will not be completed in a single day or even a single month, but over my lifetime.
That is how much God is invested in me and my success.
If He is this invested in me, then I can have confidence that I can move things from my list over to God’s list – much like delegating items on my “to do” list for my husband.
This is what prayer is. Philippians 4:6 tells us
“do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (NIV)
In 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV), the writer reminds us,
“this is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him."
When teaching and preaching about prayer, we have heard people say “I just don’t know what to pray.” Jesus’s disciples even asked Him to “teach them to pray”. To put it simply, prayer is just moving things from our list to God’s list. The biggest difference is that God would like us to learn to leave it on His list.
Have you ever delegated something to someone only to take it back and do the task yourself? I know I have. We need to remember that God is more than able to handle anything we give Him and actually encourages us to give Him our burdens, cares, anxieties, problems, challenges, wants, wishes, and dreams. If we move things to God’s list, we should leave them there. He is not only willing to add them to His list, He is able to complete them.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving next week, I encourage you to make one more list. Create an “Things I’m Thankful For” list. As you create your list, your mind may wander towards worries & cares - move those to God’s list and focus on what you’re thankful for. Then take some time to pray and let God know how grateful you are for the blessings you have listed.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. Ephesians 3:20 NKVJ
Comentários