Episode Details

What Does it Mean to Lay Down Your Crowns?

Dropping her daughter off at college left Rachael with a heaviness she wasn't expecting, and the Holy Spirit met her there with one sentence: this is what it means to lay down your crowns. What followed was ten minutes of real-time Bible study in the middle of a worship service, and what she found in Philippians, Proverbs, and Revelation reframed a phrase she thought she already understood. This short bonus episode is about what it looks like to hand something precious over to God's care even when it hurts.

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Chapters

0:00 Why Rachael does update episodes

0:57 August, transition, and a full season for the Groll family

2:24 The thought she woke up with on the last morning

3:23 "But you are all under My roof"

3:29 Testing what you hear against Scripture, and landing in Psalm 91

4:55 Crying in worship for two reasons at once

5:23 "This is what it means to lay down your crowns"

5:53 Philippians 4:1, when Paul calls people his crown

6:49 Proverbs 17:6, crowns as people again

7:01 Revelation 4:10-11, casting crowns before the throne

7:30 What the Greek actually says about laying down and about crowns

9:43 The call of the Christian parent

10:12 What is your crown

11:39 Trusting the One who created her

13:09 Prayer

What does it mean to lay down your crowns?

Most of us picture Revelation 4, standing before the throne one day and laying every reward we've earned at Jesus' feet. That's a real picture. But laying down crowns is something we're also asked to do now, on this side of heaven, with the things we hold as most precious. It means handing something over to God's care and trusting Him with the outcome before you know what the outcome is.

Can a crown in the Bible be a person?

Yes, and this is the piece that surprised Rachael most. In Philippians 4:1 Paul writes to the church he planted, Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. He's calling people his crown. Proverbs 17:6 does the same thing: Grandchildren are the crown of old men, and the glory of sons is their fathers. Scripture repeatedly treats the people God has given us as a crown.

What does "cast their crowns" mean in Revelation 4?

Revelation 4:10-11 says, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."

The word behind "cast" or "lay down" carries the sense of giving something over to another's care while being uncertain about the result. That's the whole tension of it. You release it without a guarantee, and you do it eagerly anyway, because of who is receiving it.

What does the Greek word stephanos mean?

Stephanos usually refers to an actual crown, whether a victor's wreath, a gold crown, or the crown of thorns. But one of its meanings is broader: that which is an ornament and an honor to a person. That definition is what opens the door to the whole idea in this episode. The people who are precious to you can be your crown, held in the same category as something of enormous value.

How do you trust God with your child when it's time to let go?

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