No strings attached

Read Acts 20:32

32 “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself. (NLT)

Paul was saying his goodbyes to the church leaders at Ephesus. He realises it will be his last farewell. He cannot know specifically what will happen to him or to them. He only entrusts himself and them to the Lord.

This is the heart of intercession and in a sense the heart of love for others. We can’t dictate another’s destiny. We cannot control outcomes. We cannot demand that God get people to do as we wish them to do.

Yet this doesn’t mean our intercessions lack content. We may well ask God to bless those we love in a particular way: it is what we want for them. But having done that,we commit them to God with no strings attached. We leave them in his good hands. They may or may not go the way we want them to but that is beyond us anyway.

One of our greatest tests of faith is to entrust to God those we love. We are not turning our back on them nor are we necessarily passive. But we are surrendering the right to manage and control. And that,after all,is the essence of faith in God.

Blessings
David Reay