As I reflect on the first chapter of the summer series I remind myself that surrendering doesn’t have an ending point. I think back to when I first entered into my own commitment and I thought “well, that was easy, now I just have to wait and see what God is going to do.” It took me a while to realize that every day is new and I would have to continue surrendering in order to stay in my own commitment. This seemed difficult early on. I got very discouraged because I have to admit that I thought it would be so easy. As I continued to progress in my faith I learned that God never said it would be easy.
What does easy really mean? I kept asking myself that question and what it really came down to was that I had to do the work. I had to take the steps to stay in my faith and keep the plan that God had for my life activated by putting him first everyday. God never gets to a point in our plan where we reach the finale. The plan is always at work and continuing to evolve as we evolve into better human beings who represent the kingdom here on earth. Once I trusted God more and grew in my faith it was much easier to surrender the big plans daily. As we lead into talking about the next steps we will discover in Chapter 2 how to continue on in this process.
“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”
Psalm 5:3
Yes mornings are busy, yes I have kids, and yes sometimes I forget too. Just like a good friendship it is quality not quantity. God enjoys hearing from us when we take a moment to get into the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t have to be long we just need to be present so that God will hear us and answer us…..
I sit here on my front porch writing this book watching the cars go by. I am living in Ohio with my wonderful husband, surrounded by family, and finally happy with my job and life situation. As I reflect I can’t help but wonder to myself, “How did I get here?” Oh yeah…I gave up on my own plans and found God. It dawns on me that everything I have including my happiness I didn’t achieve on my own. In fact I didn’t get here on my own. I didn’t fall in love completely on my own, drive the car I have on my own, and get my job on my own. It is all the result of two people coming together to create my best life. God and I. Don’t get me wrong my husband fits in there quite nicely. It is amazing for me to think about all that
God has done for me in recent years. It brings me to a place of total gratitude and confidence in my future. A place I wouldn’t have made it to without God. A place where I now need to sit, rest, and just enjoy all that he has given me. I don’t need to keep wanting, pursuing, or reaching for the unattainable. I have already achieved it with his control. I have learned things I never knew, I have developed friendships I wouldn’t have had, and all for just listening, trusting and following the Lord no matter what the cost.