When I was about ten, in late February or early March, my dad took me fishing with him. It was cold, rainy, and miserable, which, to my dad, was perfect timing. After we started catching catfish, which my dad described as pan-sized, we soon forgot the uncomfortable conditions. My dad’s bobber was the first to go down, and up came the first catch of the day, a beautiful fish with a golden belly and horns that I was told not to touch. Feeling a little envious of his catch, I watched my bobber even more closely. We didn’t sit there too long until my dad and I both got a bite, and I yanked for all I was worth. As my cane pole bent under the pulling of the whale on my hook, I told my dad, who was busy with his own fish, “I think it’s a big one.” I pulled and pulled until my dad said something that astonished me: “Let go!” What was this? I finally get a bite, and he says, “Let go!” Evidently, he didn’t know what I knew about the big fish pulling on my line. With that, I planted in my little feet firmly and pulled all the harder! After much prompting, he finally was laughing so hard that he could hardly get the words out, “Let go. You are pulling against me.” We had both hooked the same fish!

Many times, I hang onto things and situations, while all the time, my heavenly Father is saying, “Let go and let Me take over.” Just as many times, I dig my feet in and say, “No way. This is all mine. I know best.” When I have a problem, I pull for all I am worth. God says, “Give it to Me. I’ll take your burden.” But I give it another yank until I am worn out from the struggle. “I’ve got this one, God,” I say with my actions. “Thanks anyway!” Somehow, I think that if I worry, fret, and use my own strength, I can pull it off. Finally, I have to say, “Okay, God, I give it to You. I am not accomplishing a thing with my worry, nor are my puny efforts getting me anywhere. I will let go so that You can accomplish what I cannot. Take over, Lord!”

“May the Lord be praised! Day after day He bears our burdens; God is our salvation.” (Psalm 68:19 HCSB)

Do you have a burden so big that you are bent from the weight of it? Are you reluctant to let go for fear that God can’t really see how important it is or maybe won’t handle it the way that you had planned? God still tells us, “Let go! Let Me take over. It may not turn out like you want, but it will turn out better, My child!”

Jeanie Nihiser