5 Minutes with Jesus is a daily devotional series for people in the midst of real life, whether facing anxiety, grief, questions of purpose, or simply needing encouragement and connection. Hosted by Sheila Walsh, each five-minute episode offers Biblical truth, honest reflections on faith and emotions, and closes with a moment of prayer.
Closed captions
Show Timecode
| Sheila Walsh: Learning to Surrender Control | 5 Minutes With Jesus | June 29, 2026
- I love proverbs three, verses five and six.
- 00:00:00.123 --> 00:00:02.992
- Trust in the lord with all your heart.
- 00:00:02.992 --> 00:00:05.862
- Do not depend on your own understanding.
- 00:00:05.862 --> 00:00:08.965
- Seek as well in all you do, and he will show you
- 00:00:08.965 --> 00:00:12.202
- Which path to take.
- 00:00:12.202 --> 00:00:13.870
- We might not know what we're saying yes to, but
- 00:00:13.870 --> 00:00:17.841
- We know who we're saying yes to. oh!
- 00:00:17.841 --> 00:00:24.547
- Are you ever accused of being like a control freak?
- 00:00:25.615 --> 00:00:28.818
- You know, things are not falling into place as you expected.
- 00:00:28.818 --> 00:00:31.721
- Do you ever panic?
- 00:00:31.721 --> 00:00:33.156
- And do you wonder, is it possible to live completely free
- 00:00:33.156 --> 00:00:37.060
- Of fear, believing that god is fully in control?
- 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:41.197
- There are so many things in this world
- 00:00:41.197 --> 00:00:42.799
- That are unpredictable.
- 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:44.100
- So the what if questions are always hovering
- 00:00:44.100 --> 00:00:47.103
- Around in the background. you know what if this happens?
- 00:00:47.103 --> 00:00:50.039
- What if this doesn't happen?
- 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:51.875
- If we're honest with ourselves,
- 00:00:51.875 --> 00:00:53.877
- You know, we waste a lot of time like this.
- 00:00:53.877 --> 00:00:56.446
- Life can feel very out of control at times.
- 00:00:56.446 --> 00:00:59.682
- So how did those of us who decided to place our trust
- 00:00:59.682 --> 00:01:02.919
- In jesus live in days like these?
- 00:01:02.919 --> 00:01:06.122
- I read a quote
- 00:01:06.122 --> 00:01:06.956
- A few years ago that i wrote down
- 00:01:06.956 --> 00:01:08.358
- Because it sounded holy and right.
- 00:01:08.358 --> 00:01:11.127
- Honestly, the more i looked at it, the less i liked it.
- 00:01:11.127 --> 00:01:14.130
- It was written by a man called dag hammarskjold,
- 00:01:14.130 --> 00:01:16.733
- Who was the secretary general of the united nations from 1953
- 00:01:16.733 --> 00:01:21.804
- Until untimely death in a plane crash in 1961.
- 00:01:21.804 --> 00:01:25.875
- He left a final manuscript behind, a book
- 00:01:25.875 --> 00:01:29.179
- Which came to be called markings,
- 00:01:29.179 --> 00:01:31.114
- But he left it with a note
- 00:01:31.114 --> 00:01:32.649
- To his friend leaf, saying that the contents of this book
- 00:01:32.649 --> 00:01:36.586
- Were a sort of white book
- 00:01:36.586 --> 00:01:38.087
- Concerning my negotiations with myself and with god.
- 00:01:38.087 --> 00:01:41.424
- So he asked his friend to determine
- 00:01:41.424 --> 00:01:43.359
- If there was anything
- 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:44.394
- Of value there, and if so, to have it published.
- 00:01:44.394 --> 00:01:47.463
- Well, i was able to actually find a copy in a used bookstore.
- 00:01:47.463 --> 00:01:51.134
- The book reads like like a diary of the soul,
- 00:01:51.134 --> 00:01:54.537
- With entries starting from 1925, when he was just a young man
- 00:01:54.537 --> 00:01:58.608
- Of 20, to the final entry just weeks before his death.
- 00:01:58.608 --> 00:02:02.679
- But this is what he wrote that i found so challenging.
- 00:02:02.679 --> 00:02:06.182
- He wrote for all that has been, thank you for all that will be.
- 00:02:06.182 --> 00:02:12.155
- Yes. think about that on first read.
- 00:02:12.155 --> 00:02:15.458
- It sounds very good, very holy.
- 00:02:15.458 --> 00:02:17.760
- But when you begin to unpack it,
- 00:02:17.760 --> 00:02:19.395
- It's actually a monumental prayer.
- 00:02:19.395 --> 00:02:21.764
- I wanted to pray that, but i had so many questions
- 00:02:21.764 --> 00:02:25.602
- Like, why would i say
- 00:02:25.602 --> 00:02:27.003
- Thanks for things that had really hurt me?
- 00:02:27.003 --> 00:02:30.139
- How could i be grateful for those?
- 00:02:30.139 --> 00:02:32.141
- And just seeing a blank yes to whatever felt scary.
- 00:02:32.141 --> 00:02:36.246
- What would i be saying yes to?
- 00:02:36.246 --> 00:02:38.581
- What if that meant that i had lose my son and my husband?
- 00:02:38.581 --> 00:02:42.185
- Well, even though
- 00:02:42.619 --> 00:02:43.820
- I struggled with that prayer, i knew deep in my own soul
- 00:02:43.820 --> 00:02:47.056
- That i wanted to be able to pray it with my whole heart.
- 00:02:47.056 --> 00:02:50.460
- So i began asking the holy spirit, help me understand.
- 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:54.330
- Well, i found some other things
- 00:02:54.330 --> 00:02:55.598
- That dag wrote in this final book
- 00:02:55.598 --> 00:02:57.734
- That began to give me a little insight into how he lived,
- 00:02:57.734 --> 00:03:01.037
- And how he was able to pray that giving up total control.
- 00:03:01.037 --> 00:03:05.608
- Prayer.
- 00:03:05.608 --> 00:03:07.176
- He wrote this hallowed be thy name, not mine.
- 00:03:07.176 --> 00:03:11.648
- Thy kingdom come, not mine.
- 00:03:12.248 --> 00:03:15.685
- Thy will be done, not mine.
- 00:03:15.685 --> 00:03:19.322
- Honestly, that became a turning point in my life.
- 00:03:19.322 --> 00:03:21.858
- I wasn't being asked to say yes to some random outcome,
- 00:03:21.858 --> 00:03:25.595
- But to a loving and trustworthy father.
- 00:03:25.595 --> 00:03:29.132
- As david wrote in psalm
- 00:03:29.132 --> 00:03:30.500
- 27, the lord is my light and my salvation.
- 00:03:30.500 --> 00:03:34.437
- Whom shall i fear?
- 00:03:34.437 --> 00:03:36.039
- The lord is the stronghold of my life.
- 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:39.275
- Of whom shall i be afraid?
- 00:03:39.275 --> 00:03:41.277
- So when you think about saying yes, a real total
- 00:03:41.277 --> 00:03:45.381
- Yes to god, what might be holding you back?
- 00:03:45.381 --> 00:03:48.785
- I thought of a couple of things.
- 00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:50.453
- Number one,
- 00:03:50.453 --> 00:03:51.621
- You're afraid of what god might ask you to let go of.
- 00:03:51.621 --> 00:03:55.525
- Number two, you have a broken picture
- 00:03:55.525 --> 00:03:58.161
- Of what absolute real love looks like.
- 00:03:58.161 --> 00:04:02.131
- Number three, you're not sure what you're saying yes to.
- 00:04:02.131 --> 00:04:05.935
- I remember one christmas when our son, christian
- 00:04:05.935 --> 00:04:08.204
- Refused to open one of his gifts because the box was making,
- 00:04:08.204 --> 00:04:11.240
- Like, a funny noise.
- 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:12.975
- Each time i picked it up and handed it to him,
- 00:04:12.975 --> 00:04:15.211
- He asked me to put it down, but he didn't actually want to
- 00:04:15.211 --> 00:04:18.214
- Out of his sight.
- 00:04:18.214 --> 00:04:19.615
- Finally, i took it into the kitchen
- 00:04:19.615 --> 00:04:21.217
- And unwrapped it
- 00:04:21.217 --> 00:04:22.385
- And gave him the talking barney toy that he'd wanted.
- 00:04:22.385 --> 00:04:25.555
- And he loved it.
- 00:04:25.555 --> 00:04:27.123
- I think that's how we are sometimes with god.
- 00:04:27.123 --> 00:04:30.226
- We want to give an unreserved.
- 00:04:30.226 --> 00:04:32.695
- Yes, but we're afraid of what that might look like.
- 00:04:32.695 --> 00:04:36.099
- Not understanding that what's inside the box is what
- 00:04:36.099 --> 00:04:40.002
- We've been longing for all our lives.
- 00:04:40.002 --> 00:04:42.705
- Because god is good.
- 00:04:42.705 --> 00:04:45.441
- God is kind and god can be trusted.
- 00:04:45.441 --> 00:04:49.379
- I love proverbs three, verses five and six.
- 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:52.248
- Trust in the lord with all your heart.
- 00:04:52.248 --> 00:04:55.118
- Do not depend on your own understanding.
- 00:04:55.118 --> 00:04:58.221
- Seek as well in all you do, and he will show you
- 00:04:58.221 --> 00:05:01.457
- Which path to take.
- 00:05:01.457 --> 00:05:03.126
- We might not know what we're saying yes to,
- 00:05:03.126 --> 00:05:06.095
- But we know who we're saying yes to.
- 00:05:06.095 --> 00:05:10.066
- Let's pray.
- 00:05:10.066 --> 00:05:11.467
- Lord, i love that.
- 00:05:11.901 --> 00:05:12.735
- I love that
- 00:05:12.735 --> 00:05:13.970
- So many of your servants over the years have written down
- 00:05:13.970 --> 00:05:17.306
- Their struggles and their joys, and the path they followed to
- 00:05:17.306 --> 00:05:21.244
- Kind of let the rest of us see.
- 00:05:21.244 --> 00:05:23.479
- Yeah, we all struggle to give an unreserved.
- 00:05:23.479 --> 00:05:26.449
- Yes, until we understand who you are.
- 00:05:26.449 --> 00:05:30.253
- And then, lord, we are able to pray.
- 00:05:30.253 --> 00:05:32.755
- Yes, lord.
- 00:05:32.755 --> 00:05:33.656
- So for anybody who's listening to this
- 00:05:33.656 --> 00:05:35.892
- Or watching this and that seems too much
- 00:05:35.892 --> 00:05:38.461
- Holy spirit, just as you help me, would you help them
- 00:05:38.461 --> 00:05:41.597
- Give us a clearer picture of who we're saying yes to?
- 00:05:41.597 --> 00:05:45.935
- In jesus name, amen.
- 00:05:45.935 --> 00:05:45.935
