Sweet Surrender: Learning to Trust God
Surrender becomes sweet when we recognize that God’s ways are higher and better than ours. How much time I waste in worry and concern, only to discover I was wrong.
Sweet Surrender: Learning to Trust God
A 2MefromHim Devotional
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9
Surrender becomes sweet when I recognize that God’s ways are higher and better than mine. How much time I waste in worry and concern, only to discover I was wrong. God always has a better plan.
Jesus’ Surrender vs. My Failure
Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that if it was possible, the cup be removed from him. However, he said, “Yet not as I will, but as you will,” and then surrendered peacefully to his enemies—and to the will of God.
Many recent situations have sent me to my knees. However, my prayers are often based on personal desires. I shoulder the same burdens I should have left at the foot of the throne as I leave my quiet time. And I have no peace. Every aspect of my life is affected. Worries haunt me like ghosts.
Surrender from God’s Perspective
When Joseph’s brothers sold him into captivity, he didn’t worry and whine. He demonstrated acceptance and surrender, living to glorify God in one difficult circumstance after another. His story ends in blessing.
By the same token, one of the sadder accounts is that of Samson, who satisfied his own desires despite the call put on his life from before birth. We’ll never know what might have happened had he surrendered to God.
Elisabeth Elliot, widow of the martyred missionary, Jim Elliot, writes, “To pray, ‘thy will be done.’ I must be willing, if the answer requires it, that my will be undone.”
Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, “My situation is urgent, and I cannot see how I will ever be delivered. Yet this is not my concern, for He who made the promise will find a way to keep it. My part is simply to obey His commands, not to direct His ways. I am His servant, not His advisor. I call upon Him and He will deliver me.”
What blessings might God grant if I surrendered totally to him? #surrender #blessings #self-denial Share on XAnswering the Call to Surrender
I attempt to advise God when I pray for a situation to resolve my way. In Philippians, Paul wrote from prison, “what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.” What might God might accomplish in me, through me, or in someone near me if I surrender my will to his?
When I pray “not as I will, but as you will,” my burden is lifted. The surrender is sweet. May I learn to surrender rather than advise.
The way to peace is complete surrender to the will of God. #trust #obedience #peace Share on X© Norma Gail Holtman, May 4, 2020
About the author:
Norma Gail writes Fiction to Refresh Your Spirit. Her contemporary novels, Land of My Dreams, which won the 2016 Bookvana Religious Fiction Award, and Within Golden Bands (releasing May 19, 2020), explore the theme of women whose faith triumphs over trials. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, Inspire a Fire, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Historical Writers of America, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 44 years. They have two adult children. To connect with her, you can follow her blog, or join her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Goodreads, BookBub, or Amazon.
To Forgive Demands a Surrender of Pride
The failure to forgive or to seek forgiveness grants the devil a foothold that destroys our hearts.
To Forgive Demands a Surrender of Pride
2MefromHim Devotionals
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:3
To forgive demands a surrender of pride and pain in order to reach out to others as Christ extended grace to us.
To forgive demands a surrender of pride and pain in order to reach out to others as Christ extended grace to us. #forgiveness #pride #grace Share on XLearn to forgive
As a young Christian of seventeen, it became clear that God required me to right a severed relationship. However, following a youth conference, I knew the time for healing had come. God used the heartbreak to lead me to salvation. It was all for good.
When I shared the testimony of what God did in my life, the one who hurt me sat a few feet away. I once rejected his plea for forgiveness. It was time to surrender my pride and let go of the hurt. And it freed us both. The lesson is etched in my memory.
Examples of forgiveness
Likewise, the world has never understood the importance of Jesus’ words on the Cross when he said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” We injure others by words and actions without even trying. Proverbs 11:17 says, “Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel.” NLT
Joseph provides an excellent example. Sold into slavery, transported to a foreign country, and thought dead by his father, he was treated unjustly time and again. Years later, when his brothers appeared seeking aide in a time of famine, he revealed himself, telling them not to be distressed. God had a plan. When his brothers feared retaliation, he answered their pleas for mercy by saying, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…”
Called to forgive
In recent years, a painful situation created a gulf between myself and people dear to me. Once again, the lesson I learned as a teen returned. As a result, I humbled myself to seek forgiveness for words spoken in anger. Likewise, I needed to forgive the hurt I suffered. Forgiveness is a choice made on a daily, often moment by moment basis, whenever hurtful thoughts appear.
Forgiveness is a choice made on a daily, often moment by moment basis, whenever hurtful thoughts appear. #Forgiveness #choices #relationships Share on XHumility brings reward
Quarrels never honor God. He is wounded when we offend others by our actions and words. In Ephesians 4, Paul admonishes us to “not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs.” However, our, loving Abba Father understands our weaknesses. If we humble ourselves, He will heal and renew. The failure to forgive or to seek forgiveness grants the devil a foothold that destroys our hearts.
Forgiveness frees the offender as well as the offended. #Forgiveness #freedom #reconciliation Share on XPerhaps the way you can build up another today is to apologize. Maybe you need to forgive someone who doesn’t realize how they hurt you. Forgiveness frees the offender as well as the offended. Surrender your pride. Choose to forgive. It’s never easy but the reward is peace.
© Norma Gail Holtman, February 26, 2020
About the author:
Norma Gail writes Fiction to Refresh Your Spirit. Her contemporary novels, Land of My Dreams, which won the 2016 Bookvana Religious Fiction Award, and Within Golden Bands (releasing May 19, 2020), explore the theme of women whose faith triumphs over trials. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, Inspire a Fire, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Historical Writers of America, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 44 years. They have two adult children. If you’re interested in connecting with her, follow her blog, or join her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Goodreads, or Amazon.
