Day 75
Exchange Conditions
for Submission
It is a law of the spiritual life that every act of
trust makes the next act less difficult.[i]
Hannah Whitall Smith
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ave you ever put conditions upon your willingness to obey God? I
remember a friend who, when she was young, was willing to do anything for the
Lord but go to Africa. At that time, mission work in Africa was a badge of
honor for the young adults in her circle of Christian friends, and though she
desired complete submission to God’s will for her life, in her secret heart of
hearts she could not face the possibility of a mission field so far from
home.
"Anything but Africa, Lord," she would pray.
With much agony of spirit, she finally submitted to the Lord and opened
her heart and mind to the possibility of mission work. But an overseas
assignment never arrived for my friend. Instead, she was called to be a
stay-at-home mom to five sons (and I'm sure there were days when she thought
Africa might've been an easier mission field!).
The Lord asks us to release our “anything but” conditions for obedience
into His hands. This doesn’t mean we are to make a list of every horrific thing
we can imagine, but most of us have at least one area of ongoing resistance
that we need to release to the Lord.
We fear the loss of freedom of choice. We fear others will take advantage
of us and rob us of the time and focus we need to accomplish our goals. Our
lists of excuses are lengthy, but at the heart of the matter is the secret
desire to live our lives according to what we want to do, and we aren’t open to
suggestions from the Lord that may run counter to our own desires.
Removing the conditions we place upon our willingness to obey God can be
an agonizing process. As we pour out our hearts to the Lord, we wonder how we
can proceed? How to release our own desires when we don’t know His plan? How to
sign a contract with a God whose thoughts we cannot know?
As I cried out concerns like the ones above to God, the answer came to me
in these words:
Proceed by trusting the Lord.
No one can deliver out of His hand.
Efforts to protect yourself will fail, but if you trust in God's ability
to protect you, then you will prosper.
Do not draw your own hedge of protection around and about yourself.
Trust in the Lord's protection.
Bottom line, are you going to trust Him--or not?
The assignments God gives may take a toll on our mental, emotional, and
physical health. Or, He may strengthen us to the task so that we are blessed
through the work He provides. Whatever path He chooses for us, we must trust in
His unfailing love. The Lord knows our hearts; if we aren’t able to submit
entirely, then at least He will know when we are willing to be made willing.
Submission to God’s will reflects a level of trust that removes yet
another weight from our hearts as we enter into freedom.
Pray: Lord, I trust you with my past, present, and
future. I entrust myself fully to You. Make me malleable in Your hands so
that my thoughts and the intentions of my heart are influenced more by You than
by my desire to have my own way. Forgive me my fear of Your good, pleasing, and
perfect will. Amen.
~~~
But I have trusted in
your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in
your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt
bountifully with me.
Psalm 13:5-6
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