Living Untethered: Relinquishing Control to God

Back when I was still teaching music lessons, I had a practice with my students that I’m not sure their parents knew about. Don’t worry it wasn’t anything bad -- just not really piano related. The first thing I did was ask them, “What was your least favourite thing about today?” When they had shared that, I followed it up with another question, “What was your favourite thing that happened?” It seemed to help them get into the moment so they could pay attention in class. So, I guess it was sort of music related, at least it was significant to their learning ability. I am studying the book of Romans with the help of Stuart Briscoe. I have never been drawn to this book, in fact quite the opposite. It probably has something to do with a paper in Bible College that I procrastinated in writing for too long. But I felt Holy Spirit inviting me to spend some time in this book. I am beginning to understand why. There is both very bad news and the very best of news in this book.  I grew up in

  “ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ” ( Romans 15:13 , NIV84) “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. ” ( John 14:27 , NLT) “ So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” ” ( Hebrews 13:6 , NLT) “ The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? ” ( Psalm 27:1 , NIV84) “ When I am afraid, I will trust in you. ” ( Psalm 56:3 , NIV84) Five times the Psalmist says the same thing, “The LORD is with me why should I be afraid? Because we are human. I have a friend who has been in a very dark and difficult time for 3+ weeks. Her brother is in hospital and finally starting to make more steps forward than backward. Several times in t