Resolve to Surrender
How many of you make New Year’s Resolutions? How many of you will actually keep them? Personally, I stopped making resolutions years ago because I never had the willpower to successfully keep them.
I stand before you an imperfect and often broken woman. I have experienced divorce. I have experienced the death of a spouse to cancer. Over the last year, I also witnessed the decline and deaths of my grandmother and boss. I was laid off my job for 5 months and came close to losing my home. I had countless “unexpected issues and expenses” including multiple car repairs, vet bills, and dental malfunctions and other experiences far too numerous to mention. There were days of deep depression, despair, anxiety, hopelessness, and wondering if God even cared. Yet, through it all, I sensed the presence of the One who kept me from being utterly destroyed. He was there at each moment and continues to be the One constant I can run to. In a moment of despair one afternoon last summer, sitting jobless, broken, and without purpose on my front porch, I cried out to God and He heard me. I begged Him to either take me home to be with Him, or give me a reason to live. In that moment, I surrendered my entire future to Him. I didn’t have any plans or expectations. A few weeks later, He provided me with a wonderful, meaningful job – the first job that I can say “this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing right now.” He has blessed me with friends who have helped me along the way (both old and new), has brought me out of the darkness that once consumed me, and given me a renewed purpose and reason for waking up each day again. No matter where you are or what you have been through, God IS STILL ON THE THRONE, He cares, and He will show His lovingkindness towards you. |
God’s word says, “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but my lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and my covenant of peace will not be shaken, says the Lord who has compassion on you.” Is. 54:10
Because of Jesus Christ, we have hope for the future. If you are a single person, you have a unique opportunity to devote as much time as you want to focus on Him. Odds are that most of you will be married at least once in your lifetime. See your singlehood as valuable and use this time wisely! My challenge to you is not to make a resolution this year, but RESOLVE to do one thing… SURRENDER! Surrender trying to do things your own way and in your own strength. Surrender trying to make things happen. Surrender trying to make sense of all the bad that has happened. Surrender any unforgiveness you still cling to. Surrender your PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE to God. God allowed me to endure quite a bit over the last year, but it wasn’t until I completely surrendered my will that He began the restoration process that I so desperately wanted in my life. This year, I urge you to lay down your own will and SURRENDER to the will of God. He WILL be faithful to bless you. PRAYER Lord, I don’t always understand the seasons you allow me to endure. Although it may seem at times that everything is crumbling down around me, You say that You never leave me, nor forsake me. Because Your Word is true, I believe that You are intimately aware of my struggles and You care. I resolve to surrender my own will this year and entrust every detail of my life to You. Amen. Copyright 2010 From My Heart To Yours |
