God Comes Through When We Surrender
What would your life look like if you stopped chasing, pursuing, and toiling for the life of your dreams and stretched forth your arms opening them wide to accept the life God intricately designed for you?
For 3 minutes, close your eyes and imagine what your life could look like if this happened?
It can be hard to imagine what it looks like to accept God's blueprint for our lives. It often looks like not really knowing what happens if we accept God’s plan.
The gears in our brain begin to work hard and sometimes they are working overtime – activating our stressors and anxieties and suddenly it feels like they have voices. All we can perceive are thoughts screaming and yelling in our mind and those voices become increasingly louder as we wonder and worry who we will become if we fully surrender.
Questions like…
Could I still get that new apartment or house?
Do I have to start all over again?
Would I want to do what God wants for me?
Will I still get to go to the institution of my dreams?
Will I get to have that relationship I’ve desired for a long time?
Could I still have the same group of friends?
Would my friendships survive if I accept God’s call?
Would I be allowed to stay in my comfort zone?
Will I be able to travel the globe and be adventurous?
Would I find a community of like-minded individuals that I value and respect and vice-versa?
Will I be able to have the children I desire – when I desire them?
The questions are never ending! They race through our minds nearly at the speed of light and our minds can no longer handle them. Out of frustration or being overwhelmed, we break down and sometimes shut down.
We don’t understand what it entails to follow God. It’s an uncharted road, because each person’s journey is unique and it’s only with time that we will gradually understand.
Accepting God's preferred future for our lives often looks like a desert of unknowns, but there is a spring of water somewhere below the dry sand dunes and discovering it is just the beginning of the journey.
Despite how long it takes to find the stream of what gives us life and sustains us, living water, the journey hasn’t yet begun. When we come in contact with this living water we are made new and divinely come alive.
As a result, our journey forward looks different because we are no longer who we used to be and thus think, move, breathe, and live differently that when we once started.
So our job then becomes to allow God to order our steps. Allow simply means to give way. We must always give way to our Creator, the life giver, our source.
“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.”
Psalm 37:23 NLT
Always ask the Creator for direction and guidance. We learn to call out to him when we are dry and thirsty and there is no water in sight AND when it’s plush and green and all seems to be well. For we are a creation that should not miss out on the opportunity of being connected and aligned to our source, our Creator.
“Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:21 NLT
We develop patience and practice it everyday. Like true people of the desert, we bask in the divine art of stillness and being present with our Maker. In our stillness, we recognize the beauty of all that is around us – in a place as simple as the desert. When we are still, we have the opportunity to accept the fact that there is a God above who made everything we see and can not see.
“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” Psalms 46:10 NLT
We kick our feet and dance to the rhythm in our hearts, in our bodies, and in our minds. As we become one with our Creator, our God, and our Maker, we live each moment of this never-ending journey of opening ourselves to God’s plan with joy. This joy causes us to move freely and with assurance amidst the strong winds, the sand that blows in our face clouding our vision, and the cold desert nights, but we remember we are not alone. The elements of nature around us, including our fellow human beings, remind us that we are not walking alone and ultimately we have a Creator that is always seeking to order our steps.
“I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10 NLT
The process of accepting God’s plan is long – it’s one of daily acceptance.
What do you need to surrender to God to avail yourself to His plan for your life? What would freedom to boldly embrace God’s plan for your life look like? Finally, how will it feel if you stopped chasing, pursuing, and toiling for the life of your dreams and stretched forth your arms opening them wide to accept the life God intricately designed for you?
Titilope O. is the visionary founder of Operation Plan Your Wedding. She is on a divine mission to help singles, particularly women, after God's heart to “Embark on [their] journey of preparing for [their] Godly marriage and putting [their] faith into action by planning [their] future wedding.”
Titilope loves seeing women transformed to be the best versions of themselves and manifest their God-given identities as queens. She loves traveling, learning new languages, living life on purpose, and enjoying a good laugh with loved ones.
IG: @OperationPYW