Carol J German

On February 11, 2024, the pastor of my church spoke on Mark 13. At the end of his sermon, Pastor Matt asked, “Where are you pushing Jesus behind?” It is a question that every believer must answer on a daily basis. Every believer faces the same battle, the battle between their flesh and their faith in God, and in this battle lies the tendency to push Jesus behind whatever you want to focus on more. Essentially, you tell Jesus, “Move it! Get out of the way. I want to do what I want to do.” And you follow your own desires over the leading of the Holy Spirit.

This rebellious tendency is rooted in expectations. When you live with self-controlled expectations, you are living with closed hands. You are telling God that you can handle what the future holds. It’s like you know the future better than God! God wants to teach you to live with open hands, ones that are ready to receive what He has for you. This takes a lot of perseverance and humility on your part. You must be willing to surrender and allow God to lead you. It also takes a whole boat load of trust. You have to trust God.

Trusting God is a learned habit.

Trusting God helps to undo the wrong expectations that you tend to believe. It’s easy to believe the wrong things. You need to let God remove your wrongful thinking and fill you with Himself and His truths. Then, He is able to move you forward in serving Him.

God has been helping me to “let go and let God.” I didn’t realize how much I lived with closed hands. I didn’t realize how much I was pushing Jesus to the back burner with all my expectations. God revealed to me that my expectations caused me to focus on me rather than what He is doing for me. Expectations fueled control which led to frustration and anger which gave life to my anxiousness. Expectations make way for negativity and keeps you future-focused rather than living in the present moment where God is.

Here are three tools that God revealed to me that has helped with ceasing from telling God, “Move it Jesus!” First, pay attention what you are dwelling on, thinking about. Acknowledge them and redirect your thoughts back to God. PRAY. Ask God to rebuke anything that is not from Him. Read the book of Jude, it’s one chapter, 25 verses. Pay attention to verse 9. Follow how Michael, the mighty angel, handled the devil. He let God battle the enemy. This is how you fight your flesh! This is where the power lies in battling between your flesh and your faith in God.

Second, TRUST God. You are going to have to believe God that He is with you and you are safe and secure in Him. There is never a time where He is not fighting for you from the enemy who wants to keep you from walking with Christ!

Third, don’t try to stop your thoughts, good and bad ones will occur. You are made to think. Just learn how to redirect them. You must REFOCUS on God and who He is and what He is doing right this very minute with you. Learn Romans 12:1-2 and Proverbs 3:5-8.

To keep yourself from shoving Jesus off the throne in your heart, “Hey Jesus, move it already,” learn to let God lead. Let God be God. He is the One who is Sovereign, All-Knowing, and Eternal. You are not. Seek Him and He will reveal Himself in the most wonderful ways. Learn to accept what He has for you and you will soon experience peace in your heart. All is well for those who truly believe.