Open Your Hands, Look Up, and Trust, Mama

Tonight we will talk about opening up our hands and loosening our grip on the things we feel we need to control, mamas.

Transcript

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Good evening mamas and welcome back to Midlight, your light in the middle of the night. Tonight I want to talk to you about a little story that I heard not that long ago about a little girl whose father was an airplane pilot. And as they crossed the Atlantic, a storm came, and the flight attendant woke the little girl up and told her to fasten her seatbelt because they were in some turbulent weather. The little girl opened her eyes, saw the lightning flashing around the plane, and asked, Is Daddy at the controls? The flight attendant replied, Yes, your father is in the cockpit. The little girl smiled, closed her eyes, and went back to sleep. And I thought this is how God is at the controls of our lives. He keeps us and sustains us, but he also gives us the freedom to take over and pilot ourselves if we so choose. The problem is when we do it on our own and we don't ask God for his help, often things go awry. And God knows us, he knows our strengths and our weaknesses, and he knows what's best for us. If we will just give the control to him, he will take us safely to where we need to be, just like that pilot that was also a daddy. And that story comes from a devotion in the Billy Graham book, Hope for Each Day. I really enjoy spending time in devotions in the morning and sometimes even in the evening. But this story really grabbed at my heart because I am a mama who tries to hold things very tight, and I try to have control sometimes in places where I don't need to fight for control. And I often find that when things go a little bit wonky in my life, it's because I have not prayed about it. I have not asked the Lord what his will would be for me in that time and in that place or with that child. And so I'm coming to a place more and more in my motherhood where I am learning to relinquish control and allow God to work in the ways that He knows is best. And with that comes the opportunity for me to obey and open my hands up and not hold things so close and so tight. And I can trust that the Lord has my best interest and heart and my babies and all of my children. So tonight, Mamas, I want to encourage you to relinquish control if you also struggle with trying to control things within your home, within your schedules, within your families. There's a verse tonight I would like to share with you, and it's found in Psalm 48 and verse 14, and it says, For this is God, our God forever and ever, he will be our guide even to death. There's something so comforting about knowing that God is our guide as a mama. We can search him and find him if we search for him with all of our hearts. So tonight, mama, if you find yourself in a place like I was, where you're just trying to put a death grip on all the things that you think you know best and you are not willing to relinquish that control, I ask you not to be afraid to do so, to open up your hands, set your eyes up to heaven, and allow the Lord to work in your life and in the life of your babies and your children and your spouse, and I just ask that the Lord would help you to relinquish it because it is such a freeing place to walk in trust with the Lord. In fact, the Lord tells us in Proverbs sixteen and verse nine, a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. You can come before the Lord and lay your requests at his feet. You can ask him and have a thankful heart while you do it, but understand that we can be wise in our own eyes, and it's important to put our ideas and our plans before the Lord and allow him to direct them. O mammas, we're so blessed with these little fresh lives that are right in front of us to care for and nurture, and it's easy to try to get everything just so. But tonight I encourage you to allow the Lord to be the director of your things, your schedule, your time. And I was thinking today as I was talking with a friend of mine, and she said how much she would have loved to have had a person talking to her in the middle of the night like this when she was up with her babies, because she said, You have to be up anyway, you might as well get fed spiritually. And she was right, and I am so thankful that the Lord allows us to be refined by his word and renewed in our spirits, and even in the middle of the night. The Lord is here and he is here to listen to us, and he is where our help will come from, Mama. So tonight I encourage you that the Lord is sovereign, he does not change. No matter what, it is the one thing that you can always count on to stay true and remain the same in your life, especially when it comes to wisdom and love and understanding. And it's such a beautiful opportunity when we are willing to walk through life with an open hand and say, God, show me. Show me what you have for me in this moment. If the baby is crying again and you're walking the floor again and it feels hopeless, the Lord is with you and He is not wasting a thing. So if you are up in the middle of the night with your baby, begin to pray. Begin to ask the Lord for His will for that baby's life and for your life, and that He would direct you as a mama to know exactly what that baby needs. Something I truly have found, mamas, is that even in the hard things, even in the sleepless nights, the Lord does not waste it. And we can be encouraged that He is near and He is with us, and that we are not alone, that God is right in that room with us, and He loves that baby and knows exactly what you need and that baby needs. So tonight, Mama, just think on this truth that He is God and He will be our guide forever. Even to death, the Lord is near, and He is tender with those who care for young, and that is us. So tonight, Mamas, I hope you received some encouragement that it's okay to take a breath, let it go and give it to the Lord. See what he does with it. I guarantee it will be more beautiful than you would ever expect. So I want to leave you with a prayer tonight. May the Lord bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you, be gracious unto you, and give you peace. Amen. Mama, hang in there. You're doing an amazing work. It is kingdom work. And until next time, take care.