“We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.”  Romans 5:1-2, The Message

For years I feared that if I surrendered my life to God, He would call me to live in a tent in a tropical forest, marry a man that I was not attracted to and birth twenty plus children  – all of which are not wrong by any means – but I had no desire for any of these things.  The problem was that I did not know the character of God at that time. I believed the lie that if I gave my life over to God that He would ask me to do things that I was not equipped for nor would I like, but this could not be farther from the truth!

You see, when I threw open the doors of my heart to God, I discovered that God had already thrown open His doors of grace to me as the scripture above states. God had been patiently, lovingly, waiting for me to give up and to let Him have control.  Sweet surrender. I recognize that It is God who blessed me with a wonderful, good-looking husband.  It is God who blessed me to be a mother and it was God who knew that I was not called to live in the  jungle, but instead He gifted me to help His people through Counseling.  Many marvel that I enjoy being a Counselor, but it was God who put this desire within my heart and I experience great joy when I Counsel.

Before Christ, I struggled with depression, suicidal thoughts, low self-esteem, rejection, worthlessness, and  more.  Yet, when I came to the end of myself and cried out to God, He filled me with His life, joy and peace. Over time I began to see who God really was – a loving, giving, compassionate Father who placed talents and abilities within me to glorify Him.  I cannot boast of anything in my life, for it is God and God alone who blesses me.

Now, there are circumstances in each of our lives that we would never willingly choose to go through, but with God we can be confident that He will lead us to victory in every place .  We can stand firm that God will work all things out for His good when we are called according to His purpose.  God does not waste anything.  He will not waste our pain, trials, talents, abilities, desires or anything in life.

I want to encourage you to surrender everything to God today.  It is only through surrender that we can find peace and joy.  I pray you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and may we both experience sweet surrender this season!

Prayer:  ”Lord, I give my life and I declare that You are good and gracious and will lead me to wide open spaces as I surrender to You.  You have amazing plans for my life and I no longer want to keep You at arms length.  I want to fully surrender to Your will and not my own.  You have placed desires and abilities within me for Your purposes and I long to fulfill my destiny on earth.  May Your will be done.  Amen.”