Today, I was in bible study with some of the most beautiful women of God anyone could ever meet. They are beautiful in their submission to their own husbands, in their reverance of our Most Holy God, and in their quiet and patient manner in speaking to one another. There is great hope, endurance, and strength collectively displayed in a group of just eleven women. I am thankful to God that He has allowed me to take part in learning about Him in the company of so many other great women, much greater than myself! They have struggled with marital unfaithfulness, abusive husbands, abusive fathers, unloving husbands, financial troubles, infertility, loss of children, etc. and still they remain in God's perfect peace and can laugh at the troublesome times in their lives. I had never really thought about how this is exactly like the God that we serve until I was reading my morning devotional. This morning, I read:
Psalm 37:12-20 (NKJV):
"The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs (emphasis added), For He sees that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword, And have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and the needy, To slay those who are of upright conduct. Their sword shall enter their own heart, And their bows shall be broken, But the Lord upholds the righteous. The Lord knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, And in the days of the famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish; And the enemies of the Lord, Like the splendor of the meadows shall vanish. Into smoke, they shall vanish away."
As women of God (or men) we have come up against the unjust nature of the wicked world in which we live. Without the moral compass of God's Word and divine commandments, one would not know the measure of wickedness which surrounds us. There is malice, deceit, sexual immorality, drunkeness, lying, adultery, false idol worship, murder, slander, and much more! The scripture says that the wicked will plot against the just. Anyone who believes becoming a Christian the going to keep them from all future troubles of the outside world is gravely mistaken. The Christian simply has a hope and a future in Jesus Christ. The believer in Christ has an advocate with the Father, a deliverer in time of trouble, and a divine inheritance of peace, joy and glory in heaven. The most devout Christian IS going to have tribulations and temptations in this life. There is simply no getting around it, unless we make the truth of God a secret and serve a different gospel of Christ than the one preached in the Bible. In this case, one might be a "Christian" and have no further problems or troubles in life. Why would the enemy want to plot against someone who poses no threat to his worldly kingdom. No, the enemy I am familiar with is going to come after Christians who are not afraid to fully obey God's Word, and spread the gospel to the world like wildfire. Those are the ones that intimidate the enemy's plans to keep naive and ignorant souls from the truth of God.
So, my dearly beloved readers....if you believe in Christ today, and you are experiencing hard times, or tribulations -- take courage, the Lord is by your side. He will deliver you out of every trouble, even if it means taking you to your heavenly home to be with him. I have recently experienced miscarriage, even after being led by God into getting pregnant again (which took a great leap of faith and trust in Him). Things did not work out according to Sarah's plan, but God is glorified in completing His work in my life....not the things which I desire to happen! I often speak with other Christians who have a mindset about what it is they want from life. They want a certain child, or a certain job, or a certain place to live. They want joy, peace, and security in their living all at the same time. They are taking the benefits of God without giving up very much in return. God tells us in the Bible:
Luke 9:23 (NKJV):
"And He was saying to them all, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he just deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
To me, this means surrendering those things in our lives that we have held onto so dearly. Does that mean the Lord is never going to give us those dreams? NO. It simply means that God is asking us to trust His divine will for our lives. There will be times when God will just say "No" to a dream or desire we have. But, as I am learning in a deeper level, many of those dreams and desires are actually GOD-GIVEN. He just wants us to take those dreams and hand them back to Him, and give Him complete control over our lives, instead of holding back areas of our lives that we want to control ourselves. I know women who want to have more children, but want to have a certain child (boy or girl) and will not give God the control over their bodies because they are afraid of having the wrong sex of baby. As if there was a wrong sex! I know other people who won't give God control over their finances because they are afraid there will not be enough to meet their needs. These all go against God's Word and promises for our lives.
My desire that I have to surrender to God is SLEEP. That is why I have been struggling these past months with waking up early to meet with God. I spent most of my life being sickly, and fatigued. I am no longer this way....I am incredibly healthy -- PRAISE GOD -- but I am still holding onto a fear that if I don't sleep enough, I will get sick again. It may sound silly to one person, but it is reality in my life. I should trust God that I will get enough sleep, and OBEY Him, but I have been fighting it for a couple months now! I have even had other people around me getting sick, and I have stayed healthy....something that never happened to me before! God is showing me that He is in control of my health, and He can keep me healthy if I trust Him.
Today, I encourage each of you to pray and ask God if there is anything in your life that you have not yet surrendered to Him. Ask Him to reveal areas of your life where He would like to work through you, and to give you the strength to trust Him for the results of your life! Hand your dreams to Him, and let Him be the One to give them back to you, as He sees fitting!
God knows that this is a process of sanctification, and that it is difficult for us to surrender to Him. He is loving and gracious, and He is patient with us when it takes time for us to grow. Most importantly, we need to stay in His Word, and pray, and seek His will. He will bring us along in His timing. Do not be discouraged if you are still hanging onto a pesky thought or area of your life. Simply ask God to help you SURRENDER!
Lord,
Thank you so much that we can cast our cares upon You, and You will carry the weight of all our burdens! Thank you for your patience with us when we refuse to surrender parts of our lives to you, and your continual process of sanctification. Thank you for leading us gently to hand over thsoe parts of our lives that You need to have control over, for our own good. Please continue to help me and others to give those parts of our lives to You in full surrender. Work mightily in our lives, and give us peace, knowing that when we ask something in Your name, we can expect to receive if we do not doubt. Help me to surrender all to You, my Lord! Please bless these readers with peace, joy, knowledge and wisdom in Jesus' name. Amen.
Wanting to Surrender to Him,
Sarah
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