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If you know me extremely well, you may have heard about the time I stopped on Hwy 74 to try to help that turtle get across the road.  And if you know anything about Hwy 74, you are probably thinking that was a very bad move on my part.  Actually, I would agree with you.

Let me briefly share the story with you now.  I was driving home from the store on Hwy 74 one morning.  There was a turtle crossing the highway.  It hit me that this poor turtle had little to no chance of making it across the highway.  It is a busy road, with fast cars and faster 18 wheelers using it, even in the morning. 

Busy stretch of road

I know this stretch of road well.  So, I turned around and made my way back to the turtle, looking for a place to pull over.  But as I said, it is a well-used highway and there were too many cars coming for me to pull over.  I went down the road and turned around again to make it back to that turtle.

This time I could pull over, but as I looked in my side-view mirror, I could see the cars and trucks coming…fast and furious.  And I realized how utterly foolish it would be for me to get out, run across both lanes of the highway, to get that turtle to the side of the road.  So, I went on home.  And yes, I felt bad about it.

That turtle

But the reality is, it would have been a very bad move on my part to not only risk my life but the life of all the other drivers on the road that morning by sprinting across the highway for that turtle.  Now, if it had been a baby, a child, or an adult person, then that would have been different.  Completely different! But it wasn’t.

The first question begging to be asked is, “Why would I even consider it?”  For me the answer is easy.  I feel responsible.  In fact, I feel responsible for just about everything…even that turtle.

Years ago, I took one of those personality tests.  It was a different kind of test, not about spiritual gifts.  Anyway, my number one trait in this test was responsibility.  Boy did it hit home. I am a responsible person.  I will work myself into the ground because I feel responsible for things.  Furthermore, I don’t want to let anyone down. And of course, I don’t want anything bad to happen because I didn’t do what I thought I was supposed to do.

Taking it too far

Being responsible is a good trait. The problem is, I feel responsible for everything. And that is unhealthy.

Now part of this was the way I was raised.  I was made to feel guilty over every bad thing that ever happened.  And then, part of it is just how God made me.

The second question would be, “What does that turtle have to do with anything?”  The answer to that question pretty much knocked me upside the head.   God showed me that morning that I am not responsible for every single thing under the sun.  I needed to learn to let some things go.  And I had to learn to trust God.

Obey God

Around the same time, I heard a sermon from Dr. Charles Stanley.  He was doing a series on life principles.  He has even incorporated them to go along with a Bible, that I now own.

Dr. Stanley states one of the principles in this series like this:

“Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.” 

This was eye-opening for me.  You see, I always felt that I was responsible to make sure everything happened the way it was supposed to happen.  Somehow, the responsibility landed on my shoulders. 

This is just a hard way to live.  As a wife, if my husband isn’t happy then it had to be my fault.  As a mom, if my kids aren’t successful in everything, then I had to have done something wrong.  Really, I could never win.  Never.

I even feel responsible for things that happened when there was absolutely nothing I (or anyone else) could have done to prevent them from happening. The miscarriages that I had are a good example of this. I would just beat myself up thinking I had done something to cause them. Maybe I ate something I shouldn’t have…moved a certain way that was wrong…didn’t do something that I should have…didn’t call the doctor early enough. The list and the condemnation that comes with it just go on and on.

When, in reality, no one was to blame.

You may have something in your life like this. If you do, you know the weight is unbearable. And not one that you were meant to carry.

It will destroy you

Know this. As a Christian, this way of thinking can destroy you.  If I try to help someone and they won’t receive it…is it my fault?  If I share the gospel with someone and they reject it…am I responsible for their decision?  When I worked at the crisis pregnancy center and the girl still got an abortion…should I carry that?

No.  I shouldn’t and believe me, I can’t.  No one can stand up under that kind of pressure.  And we weren’t meant to.

Another down-side to shouldering responsibility that isn’t mine to carry is it may keep me from doing things that God does, in fact, want me to do. The “what ifs” may paralyze me. What if I blow it? What if it just doesn’t work? And what if….you fill in the blank. I don’t want to be responsible. So I don’t do it.

As Dr. Stanley says, my responsibility is to obey God.  I need to do what God tells me to do, how He tells me to do it, and when He tells me to do it.  Nothing more.  And hopefully nothing less. Anything and everything that comes afterward is not my responsibility.

It’s not about me

When I am obedient to God, I can’t take the blame if things don’t go as I think they should.  Nor do I get to take the credit when they do.  It’s just not about me.

Really, don’t we all just need to get over ourselves any ol’ way!

I’m not God.  And neither are you.  He is the only one who is all-powerful.  He is the only one who is all-knowing.  And He is in control…not us.

Obeying God is not always what I want to do. Sometimes I just want to do what I want to do. Sometimes, the things that He asks me to do don’t make sense. But I try to obey. And when I do, I try to let go of the consequences.  Not that it’s easy. But it is the right thing.

This is when I must remember Who He is. I need to remember that He is not only in control, but that He loves me with a perfect love. And that He will work in my life to achieve His will…which is the best place for me to be.

So I need to let things go and trust Him.

What about you? Is there something you are holding on to with both hands and refusing to give to Him? A weight that you’re carrying that doesn’t belong on your shoulders? Don’t you want to give it to God?

Are you trusting God with the consequences?

You can, you know.