Have you ever heard of a “God Box?” It’s simply a box – any plain, decorative, hand-made or store-bought box – in which you place your concerns, worries, doubts, fears and problems, written on slips of paper – and then turn what’s written there over to the care of God. You simply release your own control, or attempt to control, whatever is bothering you, in faith that God will take care of it for you. It’s a physical way to “let go and let God.” I first heard of the concept at a women’s recovery retreat over ten years ago. At the end of the retreat we women collectively filled a God Box with slips of paper and then burned it in a ceremony which was very peaceful and healing. At the time I was really struggling with a failing marriage and business and didn’t know which way to turn. I went home and started my own God Box in a pretty round cardboard box that a good friend had given me as a gift. It had held tealight candles which I had used up and was too pretty to throw away. I’m sure what I wrote down was resolved because I removed those slips of paper over time (and ended up remarrying and starting a new successful career). And then I forgot to use my God Box again until a few years ago when four out of our five teenage kids were living with my new husband and I and there was a lot of, shall we say, drama. (We have a blended family of three boys and two girls all fairly close in age.) Yes, you can write people’s names with whom you’re having issues on those slips of paper too. I also wrote down “get a new publisher” because I was having problems with my current one. I forgot about these though until I uncovered them just two months ago when I opened it up to put new slips in.  I smiled as I unfolded and read each piece of paper – God had truly solved what I could not! The very people and things that I had felt hopeless, helpless, frustrated and fearful over were gone! I put new ones in…and just the other day one of those has already started to become resolved. It has made me realize that there is nothing too overwhelming for God to tackle…but we first need to stop wrestling with whatever it is and hand it over to Him, much like a child would hand a tangled ball of yarn over to his or her mom or dad to unravel. I believe this Advent season is a great time to start or use a God Box to clear and prepare the way for the Lord to enter our lives this Christmas. The very wise Book of Proverbs in the Bible encourages us to do this as well. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Prov. 3:5-6). Lord, during this hectic holiday season help me to remember that You have all the power and to simply turn things over to You to experience true peace and joy.
