⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,
   and he will make your paths straight.
~ Proverbs 3:5

A significant cause of so much pain and mental torture in our lives is the attempt to know and control everything going on in our lives and around us. This is impossible; it is exhausting; it is unnecessary.

Sleeping through the storm

Mark 4
³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

When you understand that God governs the Universe and the circumstances of your life, and like Jesus you let go, then you can literally sleep through the storms of this life. Seriously, regardless of the intensity of the storms of this life, it is possible to sleep through them. But that is only if you let God take total control.

Let God take control of your image

If you want to always know and control what others think about you, you will rarely have peace and happiness.

Man is a very social being with an intense need for acceptance and affection. Unfortunately, this is one of the greatest sources of anxiety in his life – the concern for other people’s opinions. This leads to inner tension, stress, paranoia, and self-destructive behavior.

Few things enable and aggravate the storms of life as much as being unduly worried about what others think or feel about you. It is the enemy of peace; it breeds all manners of struggles.

When you stop worrying about how others feel about you, you start living; you stop struggling and start enjoying everyday life. Stop snooping around trying to figure out what everyone is thinking and saying about you.

“Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you-for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.”
~ Ecclesiastes 7:21,22

It’s too stressful. It’s not worth it. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter anyway. Instead, hand over your life to Jesus Christ and let Him run take full control of your reputation.

"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."
~ Psalms 37:5-6

Just let go, sit at His feet, and learn from Him.

He does not judge you

Jesus Christ is the only one that truly loves you and who will never judge you.

Mark 2
¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.
¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alpheus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.
¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

What others think of you today does not matter that much to Jesus. Whatever you may have done does not matter that much too to Him. The most important thing today is the state of your personal relationship with Him. Have you received Him into your life to forgive and cleanse you from all wrongdoing and guilt?

A friend that’s always there

Jesus Christ is the friend that sticks closer than a brother or sister.

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
~Proverbs 18:24

He will always be there for you through the night and through the day; through the storm and through the sunshine. Yes, trust in Him with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.