Hand it Over

"Give me one million problems
and I promise I'll worry about them all
Give me twenty-four hours
and I promise I'll fill them up
with all the things that are so small
But something tells me You made me
for so much more
I'm holding all of my life
up to the light
The light of eternity
I know what I should let go
I see what matters most
in the light of eternity
I want You to see me shine
in the light of eternity
This is one of those moments
when I'm weighing all my days
up to right here and right now
Am I doing anything that will last?
And if I'm not, then I just have to ask
Please show me how
'Cause I know You've made me
for so much more
So I'm holding all of my life
up to the light
The light of eternity
I know what I should let go
I see what matters most
in the light of eternity
I want You to see me shine
in the light of eternity
A new illumination changes everything, changes everything
And now my motivation is eternity with you
Give me twenty-four hours and I promise
I'm gonna give 'em all back to You
I'm holding all of my life
up to the light
The light of eternity
I know what I should let go
I see what matters most
in the light of eternity
I want You to see me shine
in the light of eternity"
--Matthew West, "The Light of Eternity"

"God sees your potential. He sees the person you are capable of becoming. He's not focused on what you are today; He's focused on your possibilities and what you can become. To God, you are a diamond in the rough. You may need a lot of polishing; you may have a lot of rough edges. That's okay; we all do. But God sees what's in you, and He's never going to give up on you. He will keep working on you and making you into the person He wants you to be."
--Joel Osteen, quoted from Daily Readings from Your Best Life Now

At any given time, I can be one of the world's best worry-warts. I overanalyze things too much, sometimes almost to the point of making myself sick with worry. I know it's not good for me, but yet I still do it anyway. God doesn't want us to worry about the small things in life; He doesn't even want us to worry about the big things- He wants us to put our faith and trust in Him to see that we overcome the obstacles in our life and sometimes even surpass the dreams we had for ourselves. We have such an amazing God- why is it so hard to hand things over to Him?
I've been worrying lately about a friendship of mine - whether the issues that seem to be plaguing it now will eventually work themselves out, or if things will always stay the way they are right now (or get worse as time progresses), and I wonder what I could possibly do to make things better. At times when I get to really worrying about things, and thinking about what I can do to fix it, I stop and realize how all that thinking is getting me nowhere. I just go around in circles. Like other things that have bothered me before, I finally gave the problem up to God, but somewhere along the way, I ended up taking it back. Stubborn-headed me. But there's always hope...with God's help, I can do anything. :)

Another forward to think about...
I asked God to take away my habit. God said, No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.
I asked God to grant me patience. God said, No. Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.
I asked God to give me happiness. God said, No. I give you blessings; happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain. God said, No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said, No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.
I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me. God said…Ahhh, finally you have the idea.