Get the appHope Anyway by Leeana TankersleySample
Day Five
It’s Not All Up to You
One of the hardest things about hard things is that you are typically not the only one in your life who is affected by the hard thing. You likely have a network of people who are impacted, each processing their own big feelings in their own time and in their own way.
What I didn’t realize at the beginning of my grief was how hard it would be to entrust other people and their process to God and to let God be God.
We pick up our problems and our people’s problems when we lose our hope in God’s potential, the divine possibilities. We forget the creative genius of the . . .
rainbow
burning bush
manna
pillar of fire
cloud by day
wilderness
mountaintop
belly of the fish
stormy sea
stable
star in the East
dove
wedding
cross
earthquake
bread and wine
spirit
These were all God’s way of saying the same thing to humanity: “I am here. I am here to help you, give you rest, give you hope. I am here to protect you, nourish you, save you. I am here. It’s not all up to you.”
Do you need this phrase as much as I do? If we need this truth so deeply, then why do we forget it so easily, so consistently? I don’t know, exactly. But it’s been happening since the beginning of time. We’ve always needed prophets and poets, signs and wonders, to bring us back, to remind us of our history, to remind us of what brought us here, and to remind us of our place in it all.
I had to reinvest hope in the reality that God was not only holding me but God was holding those I loved. God’s arms were wide enough and strong enough for every hurting heart. In a simple prayer, just whispering a name, I could bring someone to this Help. I could say, “Please watch over him. Please watch over her. I’m out of big ideas except one: you.”
Perhaps you are carrying a load you were never meant to carry, don’t have to carry, could learn to set down.
You do not have to fix all the broken things by yourself. It’s not all up to you.
God, what broken thing am I trying to fix right now because I mistakenly believe it’s all up to me?
Scripture
About this Plan
Despite going through a season of tremendous loss, Leeana Tankerlsey found that, “Hope arrived somewhere along the way, and no matter how many circumstances tried to snuff it out, it continued.” Journey with Leeana into the surprising reality of a hope that never lets you go. Whatever loss you are experiencing, you are not worth less than you once were. And, against every odd, you have reason to hope anyway.
More
We would like to thank Baker Publishing for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/260803
