Surrendering Control to God

 

I surrendered to God’s call to save my soul when I was a teenager. I believed Jesus could send me to heaven but I ran from His amazing grace for a long time. I had not surrendered every part of my life to Him. Crazy to say that out loud yet how many of us can say this as well? I still wanted to live by the worlds standards. 

I needed to learn how to surrender my will to Gods will. I had to learn my belief in Christ meant that I was to walk in His Spirit, trust His ways and those ways are better than my ways.  

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:16-17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I was taught growing up to be in control of my life. You can do whatever you set your mind to but you must work hard to do it all of which rely on me. Hard work was natural for me. What I wasn’t natural was to rely totally on Jesus. I believed He had my eternity covered BUT the here and now I wasn’t so sure about. I wasn’t surrendering every area of my life. My knowledge of God at this point in my life was what others had told me not my own first hand knowledge of the Word of God. 

I wasn’t living like I believed God. My marriage after many hurtful fights felt hopeless and my parenting felt like I failed my children in many ways. 

My total trust wasn’t in Jesus Christ for reassurance a d healing. 

It was in what I had trusted and clung to for a very long time, control. I would continue for a long time believe in what I could control around me or if I worked harder everything would work out. ⁣

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It was such a turning point in my life when I totally surrendered control to God. I was at the end of myself. I broke down in tears of exhaustion. I prayed to God for help. I felt the weakest I have ever felt yet the strongest I have ever felt in my life. God answered in His time and He healed what felt broken beyond repair in my marriage. He told me I was the parent for these children no matter what choices they make you did the best you knew how. He still loved me and wanted fellowship with me. 

Not having control over situations is a terrible feeling for someone like me who thrived off control. In my prayers I heard God whispering come to me, “I have always been here.” Give it all to me.” ⁣

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When I finally surrendered to Gods authority on my life I received His sweet gift of grace. I listened to the Spirit, I couldn’t get enough of God, His Word and His transforming power. I saw the strongholds fall in my life fall one by one and finally felt freedom standing in the middle of His amazing grace.⁣ You see I was saved at a young age but I ran from surrendering everything to my Savior. As I leaned from reading and learning who God is the people of Israel in the OT I could see myself. I saw my strongholds and heart sickness I lived with for so long. God never gave up on His people then and He doesn’t today.  Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

Today is has been a daily surrender and dying to self and I hope you will join me in this. I would love to hear your stories of surrender and listening to the Spirit. -𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺 

Tag me in your testimony  #knitthegospelintoyourheart 

How do we love God more?

Hello there friend-

Have you wanted to love God more?

I have asked this question because I have said I love God but really didn’t have that desire for Him that I longed for.  I saw other women write about God and heard other women talk about God in a way that I had not felt before.  I too wanted that deeper love that I saw in other women walking with God but how?

Sometimes we ask ourselves why we don’t have a deeper desire for God than we do right now because we can often think of loving God as a feeling but it isn’t an emotional feeling.   I first had to learn what is true about God before I could truly say that I love Him and this love and character of God I had discovered in His Word then turned into a desire to know Him more.  I started to realize I had a lot to learn about God and that desire grew for inside me and then my relationship with God grew deeper and more intimate.

Often my first response is to my feelings and in that we have a faulty view of love.  I believed it was conditional feeling that you earned from others.  God tells us the Truth about love. 

We know that God loved us so much that He gave His only son Jesus Christ to die for us so that we could have eternal life. (see John 3:16)  The Bible also tells us, He loved us first and commands us to love others as ourselves (see Luke 10:27) which by the way is something we have to do first before we can even begin to share the love of Christ.

I know this because I have struggled with loving myself through the years.  I don’t think I am alone in that I had lived with guilt and shame of my past sins even though I had repented.  It is the enemy who wants to hold us back from receiving God’s love and sharing it. So begin today and pray for God to break the bondage the enemy might have you in.  Begin loving yourself as the woman God made you to be.  Loved by Him and set apart! (see 1 Thess 1:4)

If you need help beginning a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ…

Start with prayer and repent of any sins in your life or baggage you might be holding onto. He has already forgiven you Sister if you have asked Him.  Then begin by asking God to give you a heart to love and forgive others in your life.  He is a good God and only has good intentions for us. 

Next, begin a daily walk with God by reading your Bible and learning about who God is and His character. As you are spending time in His Word ask these questions, What does this tell me about God? and How should this change me? Simple questions to start learning about God and as He deepens your love and desire for Him. 

I use to think it was difficult to understand and how could I understand the Bible. You can do it! It is not hard just start reading and God will guide you to understanding I promise. He wants to illuminate His Word and open your eyes so you as a woman of God can hide His Word in your heart.  

From here your desire to love God will start. It takes time to grow anything like a plant but little by little we see growth.  That is the same for our spiritual growth, our love for God grows deep roots the more we feed on the Word of God and spend time in prayer with Him. 

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man." ~ Proverbs 3:3-4

The love of God is what begins our journey with Him and our faith will grow from there into a hope of a bright future with Him.  God never changes and neither does His love.  His love is unconditional, steadfast, and eternal.  We can never be separated from his love as a believer.  That is amazing and something we can take comfort in. 

What characteristics of God are encouraging you right now?  Have you started getting intimate with your Savior by reading His Word and learning more about Him? 

Blessings my friends!

trAcy