How to Release Our Hards into God’s Sovereign Hands

The greatest treasure in our hards is the assurance we do not face them alone. Our Father is with us. Add the amazing truth that we are not just welcomed to His holy throne, but encouraged to approach His presence with confidence, “so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”. (Hebrews 4:16) Incredible. Astounding. Humbling.

As we abide in His presence, we release our fears, anxieties, and concerns about our difficulty to God. After we have confessed “the good, the bad, and the ugly”, and experience the liberation and peace of giving everything over to His sovereign plan, we are overwhelmed with His mercy and grace pouring over us. 

But. Then, what do we do? One teaching says to give our problems and fears into the hands of God, then symbolically walk away, demonstrating the depth of our trust in Him. We visualize ourselves doing this precise act. In faith.

But too often, we find what we had released to Him, back in our hands. Once again the anxiety and fears resume. We mentally and physically try to manipulate circumstances in our hearts and lives. Or worse, in other’s hearts and lives. 

How can we do differently? How do we give God our petitions concerning the difficulties of life and then leave them in His hands? Perhaps, instead of “walking away”, we should initiate different action. What if we stay spiritually positioned on our knees before Him, as we wait, watch, and worship.

Psalm 37:7 tells us to “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” The command to “wait” in scripture is not passive. But an “anxious expectation”. Not anxiousness displaying distress or fear. But eagerly looking forward to and desiring God’s answer. However, when life gets excessively hard, waiting can be difficult. When sorrow overflows day after day. When healing doesn’t come. When relationships continue to crumble or potential jobs slam closed doors. Waiting for an answer, a solution, a healing, becomes excruciating. 

Therefore, staying on our knees, we watch for ways God is moving and working. Sensing subtle changes reveals He is active. Experiencing small graces confirm He is engaged and laboring to bring about His best for us. Listening as His Spirit directs how we are to participate in His answer, we step into the stream of His will.

All along, as we wait and watch, we worship. We acknowledge His presence, His sovereignty, His power, His compassionate love for us. We worship while continuously releasing. And we pray:

“Father, in all things,
You know the plan. I do not.
You know the purpose. I do not.
You know the outcome. I do not.
Help me to lean into You.
Build my trust.
Anchor me with Your promises and to Your truths.”

Tempted to pull our situations back into our lap to work our shallow solutions, instead, we look up and see them in His sovereign, powerful hands. We see the work He is doing and willingly wait, recognizing in His time and in line with His will, He will answer. Again, we are wrapped in His peace. And resume our worship.

When we try to go alone, the wrestling in our hearts and our minds exhausts us. We attempt release, yet wallow. Partially release while continuing to manipulate. Begrudgingly release while throwing out suggestions and demands. We fight this battle to take back control by releasing to God and then waiting. Releasing and watching. Releasing and worshiping. Continuous actions. Herein we find His supernatural, unexplainable peace. We “receive mercy and find grace” dispensed from His throne “to help us in our time of need”. A treasure we embrace with deep thanksgiving as we walk through our hards. 

Photo by Diana Simumpande on Unsplash