I don’t know what you’re facing today but I want to tell you that stressing is not the solution to it.
Striving is not the solution either.
Trusting God is.
Surrender is the solution.
Surrender yourself to God. Surrender your situation to God. Surrender your fears to God.
This isn’t about giving up but it is very much about giving over of yourself into God’s hands.
Not because you understand how God can work a miracle but by believing He can work a miracle.
Surrender is about trusting Him to be who He is – your loving Father.
God assured us in Hebrews 13:5-6 MSG, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you, we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?”
Your reality may not be matching up with your expectations.
Jesus knows where you are and what you are dealing with. He is not surprised.
When Moses asked who was sending him back to Egypt at the burning bush in Exodus, God said, tell them “I Am” is sending you.
When Jesus was standing before the Pharisees in the temple, He said: “before Abraham was, I Am.” That phrase is the Greek equivalent to the name given to the voice from the burning bush.
This Holy, powerful name of Almighty God embodies who He is: 1. Always Existing 2. Independently Existing 3. The “Becoming One”
Jesus will meet you right in the middle of your chaos and equip you to navigate through it.
He is the “becoming” one.
He said:
When you are hungry: “I am the bread of life.” John 6:48 NIV
When you are in darkness: “I am the light of the world.” John 9:5 NIV
When you are lost and defenseless: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11 NIV
When you are exhausted: “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” Psalm 118:14 NIV
What do you need today?
Ask the Great I AM.
Draw from His consistent, ever-present power.
He hears, answers and will give to you out of His all encompassing LOVE.
“He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said.”
Romans 4:19 MSG
There comes a point in life that your faith becomes stronger by facing the facts, not weaker.
The facts may not be friendly or encouraging or what you want to face but as a child of God, you can face them. You can deal with reality instead of running from it.
How? By knowing that your circumstances do not define you, God does.
God chose you.
God loves you.
That thing that God has called you to? You can’t make it happen but He can.
To be who God has created you to be you are going to have to let go of “doing your best” and embrace “depending on God”.
You new life in God’s family isn’t “success and failure” based.
It isn’t “today, I did a good job” so I’m feeling good or “I totally messed up ” and being depressed.
You will do a good job. You will make mistakes. This is not about denying how you feel. It is about allowing God’s feelings for you to be the foundation of how you experience your life.
His part is to guide and provide, your part is to follow and trust.
In Jesus, you have full rights as a child of God to live fully persuaded that God is able to do above and beyond all you can ask or imagine.
“Father, Reveal who you are today.”
Matthew 11:2 MSG
Understanding who God is impacts how you pray. Talking with a good, good Father is very different from talking to a distant divine judge.
How you see God impacts how you pray.
Jesus said to talk to your Father who loves you and ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
The most life-transforming moments happen when God reveals who He is to you. The moments that you realize that He is proud of you, loves you with an unwavering constancy and is yearning to spend time with you.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg of who our Father is. A lifetime of loving Him will barely scratch the surface of His love.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4 NIV
Rejoicing is the theme of the book of Philippians, even though the circumstances with which it was written hold no reason for such a sentiment. Paul is under house arrest in Rome waiting to go before Caesar. He is cut off from his friends and chained to a guard 24 hours a day. He is not comfortable and does not know what the future will hold.
And that is the point.
We don’t rejoice because life is good, we rejoice because God is good.
We don’t rejoice only when good things happen – God works through all things.
We don’t wait to rejoice until we have all the answers, we rejoice in knowing that Jesus does. And He loves you and will be with you whatever comes.
Set your heart to rejoice in Jesus today: who He is, what He has done and that your eternal future is secured by His amazing sacrifice. Your present circumstances are provided for by the strength of His grace no matter what they look like.
We like to rejoice when we get our way but sometimes the harder way is what we actually need to grow in.
Set your mind to delight in a security of the love of Jesus and the mercy of His grace.
Rejoicing when there is nothing to rejoice about is a divine gift that will transform you.
And if you ask Jesus to open your eyes to see what you have right now to rejoice in, He will.
Cindy Grasso 