For years I've struggled with the location of the line between what I should control and what the Lord controls. How much am I supposed to do? How little? And how do I muster the faith to consistently "give it to God" and not worry? Perhaps you've asked yourself these same questions.

Back in 2000, as He has done on countless occasions, the Lord brought someone into my life to teach me what I needed to learn next. There's an old saying, "when the student is ready, the teacher arrives." This teacher helped me gain a better understanding of God's laws and how by living in harmony with them, I could clearly see the line between what I am supposed to handle and what God will handle. After learning these laws, I no longer struggle on a day-by-day basis to muster the faith to "give it to God." I have an unwavering assurance that enables me to not only trust the Lord, but also trust that I will like where He's taking me. What a sense of peace! Before this, I thought I had faith, but I don't think I even scratched the surface of understanding what that word really means.

There's no way to convey all these principles in one article, but my goal is to give you the basics. If you want to learn more, stop by, Abundance Quotient.

First let's look at Hebrews 6:10-19. Paul's writings are a little tricky to understand, but there are some key principles in this passage that can help us understand how God works. I compared several translations of this passage, and the Word English Bible seems the plainest:

"For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them."

In other words, the Lord is mindful of you. He sees how you have worked and labored with love to serve others. He sees that your heart is in the right place and that you are seeking first the Kingdom of God.

"We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end, that you won't be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherited the promises. "

Paul desires that we would through our own diligence have a fullness of hope -- all the way to the end. Michael C. Muhammad said, "Everything works out right in the end. If things are not working right, it isn't the end yet. Don't let it bother you, relax and keep on going." When we "give it to God" it doesn't necessarily mean we put everything on hold. We continue to labor and serve others. We continue in the work we can do. The Lord works through our current circumstances to manifest His will. Giving it to God doesn't mean we become lazy and do nothing. Instead, we should be diligent, patient and with an eye of faith work in hope knowing the end will bring the promise.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He could swear by none greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Most surely I will bless you, and I will surely multiply you." Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

The Lord promised to multiply Abraham and make him a great nation. But Abraham and Sarah didn't even have their first child together until they were in their 90's! How's that for patience? Abraham patiently endured, kept his covenant with the Lord and obtained the promise. When the Lord promises, He delivers! It may not be on our timetable, but He always delivers in His perfect timing.

For men indeed swear by a greater one, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation. Wherein God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us, which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil;"

When the Lord promises, He always delivers. And most of the time, He makes promises in the form of covenants -- two way promises. We promise Him something (our faithfulness) and He promises us something (His blessings). This is what the Abrahamic Covenant was. And when the Lord promises, there's no more need for worry. Our faith becomes hope that acts as an anchor to the soul. It gives us an assurance and a vision of things to come. The term "within the veil" implies those things which are spiritual, beyond this life, or things of a heavenly nature. Our faith almost becomes "other worldly" as we put these principles into practice. We see with our spiritual eyes the things that are currently only spiritual but are moving toward us into physical form.

The best analogy I've heard for this is an acorn. Does an acorn have an oak tree inside of it? It has the plan for an oak tree -- right? It doesn't have everything yet, but it has the blueprint or the promise of an oak tree inside of it. If you hold that acorn in your hand long enough will it grow or disintegrate? It will eventually disintegrate -- right? If you want it to grow, you have to plant it in the right kind of soil. Then in time, the acorn will become an oak tree.

Does the acorn have to fight and claw to become an oak tree? No, it simply holds the blueprint of the tree in its cell structure and everything that it needs to become a tree is drawn to it out of the soil, air and water. In the appointed gestation period, the acorn becomes a tree.

Similarly, when we have the vision of a goal that the Lord has promised us, we can plant it in our minds, hold the vision of it in faithful diligence with patience for the timing of the Lord. Diligence with your vision means you act on every prompting that you receive from the Spirit as you hold this vision. No matter how insignificant or silly it may seem, heed the promptings you receive from the Spirit and act immediately on them. From small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

In summary, here are the steps for knowing how to give things to God:

1. Make sure your heart is in the right place. Make sure your first and foremost desire is to "seek first the Kingdom of God." For as 1 John 3:19-24 says, "Hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." If you're living in harmony with the Lord's commands and have His Spirit with you, you won't ask for anything that is contrary to His will. If you do, you'll quickly know it. Whatever your desire, check it against scripture to see if it is a valid request and then ask the Lord for a confirmation that your desire is one that is in harmony with His will.
2. Once you have His confirmation, you have His promise. Start with the end in mind. Create a clear vision of what you want in your mind and hold it there, in faith, believing that you will receive it. At this point you are seeing "within the veil." You are in essence seeing the spiritual birth of your promise and eventually through your faith and diligence it will grow into physical form.
3. Spend time each day visualizing your outcome that the Lord has promised you. Visualize it as if it is already yours, because it is on its way to you! Be grateful for that! Thank the Lord and praise Him that it is on its way.
4. As the Spirit prompts you to do things throughout your day, act immediately. Act on every burst of insight or prompting from the Spirit. (Note this is assuming you are living God's commands and are worthy of His Spirit. As John 3:24 says, "He that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." If you aren't living in accordance with God's commands, you can't be certain of the source of impulses.)
5. Be patient and diligent, and you will attain your goal. God cannot lie. The Lord is bound when we do what He says. If we don't do what He says, we have no promise. But if you live by His laws and keep your end of the bargain, you will obtain the promise in His perfect timing.