I had no idea what God had in store for me when I surrendered my life to Jesus. I had no idea that surrender to Him meant a lifetime of surrendering – a daily giving over and giving up. We give over or yield to His will and purpose each day. We give up many things – yes, even some things we enjoy – so that He may shape us into the beings who will help bring about His purposes in the world. We accept the sudden changes of plans that He orchestrates. We smile and continue on without fussing because we know He is sovereign over everything. What choice do we have, really?
He can clear two months off your schedule with a snap of a
finger. And if He does, believe me, He has something special in mind for you. A
time of rest and reflection, perhaps. A time to receive the blessings of
someone’s helping you or taking care of you for a while.
Now listen, you who say, “Today or
tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business
and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is
your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the
Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant
schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought
to do and doesn’t do it; it is sin for them.
James 4:13-17
In
2016 when I broke my foot in the middle of the night and took an ambulance ride
to the hospital, it quickly became apparent that I wouldn’t be going anywhere
for a couple of months; my calendar would be wiped clean. Now this may sound
strange to you, but I found my situation to be amusing. Why? Because I
absolutely could not do a thing about it; I was helpless!
The
reality of God’s sovereignty brought me a measure of peace that few might
understand. I accepted the heavy boot, the walker, and my instructions as I
left the hospital. Between my husband who took great care
of me, the meals brought to my home by friends and members of my church and the
prayers, those two months zipped by and before I knew it, my calendar was
filling up again. But my "time off" was a blessing in that it brought me closer to the full surrender to Him that I longed for.
When
I look back on those two months, I remember who is really in control. And I
remember the amazing peace and comfort I had living in that reality. Now I try to look
for the blessings in the seemingly small inconvenient things in life, because they
will happen. And when they do, our level of acceptance and our level of surrender will determine the
degree to which we can get through them without trauma or drama.
Your schedule is subject to change in an instant. The circumstances of your
life are subject to change in an instant. Will you be equipped to adjust and
adapt?
If
you have had a similar experience, would you be willing to share how you made
it through? Would you share what lessons you learned from it? I would love to
hear from you.
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