Week Forty - I Stopped

Several years ago, the Lord gave me a word that became a spiritual instruction. The word was enough. His Spirit said, "That is enough, Gail. Enough trying to figure things out. Enough fretting and fear. Enough trying to solve everyone else's problems or thinking you can fix things for them. Enough." 

I wish I could tell you I obeyed immediately, but I didn't. It was several months of heartache and disappointment before I decided to obey by faith. And let me tell you, I have never regretted my decision. When I stopped figuring, fretting, and fixing, I found such peace, and I began seeing God work and even answer prayer.

We are often too slow to respond when it comes to stopping. Maybe that's why we crash! Or maybe our spiritual brakes are bad, causing us to appear erratic or swerving. Learning to stop is a vital safety maneuver!

I read a post a while back where another person talked about stopping. Here's what it said.

"I once asked a very successful person to share their secret. They smiled and said, 'I started succeeding when I started leaving small fights for small fighters. I stopped fighting those who gossiped about me. I stopped fighting with my in-laws. I stopped fighting for attention. I stopped fighting to meet people's expectations of me. I stopped fighting for my rights with inconsiderate people. I stopped fighting to please everyone. I stopped fighting to prove they were wrong about me. I left such fights for those with nothing else to do but fight, and I started fighting for my vision, dreams, ideas, and destiny. The day I gave up on small fights is when I became successful and so much more content.'" 

I must agree. Contentment and peace became my overriding state when I stopped and obeyed the Lord.

Why do we struggle with stopping? Let me offer a few suggestions. 

We may think no one else could solve the problem like we can. 

We may think that if we walked away from the situation, we would be perceived as not caring or loving enough. 

We might even believe our way is the right way, and if we stopped putting in our two cents or keeping our fingers in the pie, things wouldn't turn out well. 

Do you see the pride in those thoughts?

Let me give you a couple of Scriptures to consider. James 4:1-2 reads, "From whence come wars and fighting among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not."

Isn't this what we do when we refuse to listen to God's Spirit? We push and shove and try to get things to go our way. God calls that the lusts that war in our members—the desires that drive us. 

Proverbs 13:10 says, "Only by pride cometh contention." If we combine that with the verses in James and study the subject throughout the Bible, we will learn that pride is the core problem.

We don't stop because we are driven by pride. We want to look good, sound good, be perceived as the ones with the answers, and be able to solve all the problems, but that is not our place! 

You find the key when you read chapter four of James. That key is humility. Verse ten reads, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." 

Listening and obeying when God's Spirit told me it was enough was humbling. I knew I should stop, but I feared what might happen. And you know what? None of the things I feared happened. Instead, God gave me great peace and a secure contentment that my obedience was enough. He would do the rest.

So, what do you need to stop today? Fretting? Fussing? Complaining? Fixing? There can be many things we push with a background of pride. I challenge you to go before the Lord and see what word He gives you. Then, obey by faith and let God take care of the rest.