Just leave it there. I'll take care of it

Have you ever had someone want to help you, but because you know it needs to be done a certain way, you say, "Just leave it there.  I'll take care of it"? I have.  It's not that I'm a perfectionist or anything, but I know if someone else tries to "organize" my lab at school, I will have to go redo it.  Things have to be in the right place in order for labs to run smoothly.  Even at home, there are things that I need to do myself in order for things to work the way I want them to.
I was thinking about this recently and wondered how many times God says, "Just leave it there.  I'll take care of it."  The problem is...we think we know better and don't trust Him to take care of the issue.  The act of physically placing something on the altar and giving it to God is very powerful.  It means trusting Him.  When there comes a time that you need it back, all you had to do is tell God that you don't think He is capable enough to handle it and take it back off of the altar.  He won't force you to leave it there.
When I was thinking about this, it was in the context of someone else.   Then today came and I am confronted with a situation that I have to take to the altar and leave it there for God to take care of.  As much as I think I know, He knows best and can handle the situation far better than I can.
I'm wondering...What is it that you need to take to the altar and leave there?  Is God big enough to handle it?

I'll go with you

This morning in church, I sat behind an elderly couple.  I don't know these individuals, but I could tell that they had loved each other for a very long time.  He was a bit frail and judging from what he told someone during the time in the service that we greet one another, had experienced a health setback recently.  I watched as she lovingly looked at him and put her hand on his very gently.  When it came to the time in the service where people are encouraged to go to the altar and pray for their needs or offer thanks and praises to God, she leaned over and said, "If you want to go forward and pray, I'll go with you."  I don't think it was so much about just being there with him, but rather about the fact that he needed assistance to get to the altar.  Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about Dan and how I wished that we could have been that couple in several years. Then I started thinking about what she had said.  "If you want to go forward and pray, I'll go with you."

It's easy to say, "I'm praying for you."  It makes you feel better, because you've done something at least.  You can feel good about "helping" but you haven't had to inconvenience yourself or get your hands dirty.  Don't get me wrong.  Prayer is incredibly powerful, but put action with it and it's a winning combination.  I wonder how many of the people who said that to me during my darkest days really did it.  I wonder if they understand that I needed more than prayer.  I needed someone to recognize that being in church alone was incredibly hard and sit with me.  I needed someone to realize that there were things that I couldn't do on my own and offer to help.  I needed someone to want to help me to the cross when it seemed so far away.
Don't be satisfied with just praying for someone.  Do what you can to take them to the altar....whatever that means.  You never know.  Those steps of helping them to the altar may be the first in a long journey together.