It´s Out of My Hands

When thinking about concepts that do not contribute much to the wellbeing of the soul, I bet negativism and pessimism are pretty high ranked. As it is the case with many other dark tendencies and attitudes, I struggle with these conditions. In my daily walk I lean toward worse-case-scenarios when considering the outcome of a given situation. The way I see it, I don´t want to be disappointed so I adhere to the motto: expect nothing good, so when it isn´t as bad as you predicted it, you are pleasantly surprised!

Well, keeping that attitude becomes a burden that gets heavier and heavier as you continue marching along the road of life. At this point, I´m pretty crushed with it and I need to shake it off. I need my shoulders to be free from the yoke of a bad attitude and my soul to be cleansed from negativism and pessimism.

Accomplishing that means, once again, that I have to address my trust issues. I find it hard to be optimistic and hopeful about the things to come because, deeply in my heart I still believe I have to make things happen. I still believe that it is up to me to make it (whatever “it” is) work. And since I have this idea that I am responsible for the outcome of my situations, and I know VERY well I am not qualified to successfully deliver a good outcome…I dismay… I dismay because I keep forgetting that the outcome is actually out of my hands.

When confronted with a hardship, trial, fire, mountain, etc., I need to remember my limitations. I need to remember I can only take one step at a time…one day at a time…one thing at a time…one breath at a time. I do what I´m supposed to do at this very present moment and let go. One of the greatest examples of this process is parenting. For a little while, you get this precious child in your arms. For a little while you are in charge of their every move and take care of their every need. You teach and you try to mold. You love and discipline and love again, all in the hope that someday, when they are ready to leave your side, they know what to do on their own…

When the moment comes, however, we don´t want to let go. We don´t trust them to be able to figure it out without our guidance. We don´t trust God will be there with them. We don´t trust the Holy Spirit will speak and reveal Himself to them in a way that they will hear Him. We continue to think that we are responsible. We continue to think it´s up to us for their lives to turn out alright…but it´s not.

Our job is to be the best parents we could possibly be with the limitations of our all our flaws…after that…it is out of our hands. We doubt our parenting skills. We feel inadequate. Therefore, we are very pessimistic and negative about how our children will turn out to be. It´s hard for us to have hope when the outcome is based on our ability to perform perfectly. That´s why we sink in darkness…because we forget it is God who is ultimately responsible for the fulfilment of His plan and for the deliverance of His children…

Today, I pray the Lord will change my attitude, renew my hope and push pessimism and negativism out of their high ranks into the pit of fire so they disappear from my life once and for all…Today, I pray that the Lord will refresh my soul and fill it up with the living essence of hope, the true Hope we find only in Christ.  Once again I say: I chose to trust!