4 Steps to Surrender: Step 4 Allow
Proverbs 16:3, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do and He will establish your plans.”
When I think about my need for peace, love, joy, and comfort in my home and my inability to obtain it on my own – this verse becomes my foundation.
Commitment… Commit to the Lord and he WILL establish your plans. That is a promise. A- PROMISE.
What I find in my imperfection as a wife/mother/woman is that I can admit, acknowledge, and ask for God’s help without much hesitation but laying these things at the foot of the Throne and committing to leave them there – is intensely difficult.
I have this inclination to place them there for a moment and when more time then I’m comfortable with passes, I’ll walk over, pick them up, and go back to trying to fix myself.
Allowing God to work, or in other words waiting for God to work is hard. We acknowledge that his ways are higher than ours, but that doesn’t mean we’re willing to tolerate the wait.
Our way says we offer our requests, and Boom – God gets it done – quickly. But His ways are NOT our ways. He says leave it there – and I’ll get it done, my way. When it comes to God timeliness does not dictate effectiveness …
Where we see a straight path from point A to B – God sees a side road with crooked paths, increased depth and lots of ground to cover – a journey that will be remembered – not a shortcut and on to the next thing easily forgotten sort of experience.
We serve a God desiring a people with deep roots that can stand the test of time – he knows good and well the depth of our roots determines our strength – he understands shallow seed merely shrivels in the heat – That’s not his desire for us, no, his desire – his plan – is to transform us. His transformation begins by rooting us deep, building within us power to withstand the elements… and that rooting requires a wait where we allow him to handle the thing we cannot so that this thing we can’t get past is gone – and gone for good.
4 Verses: Allowing God to be God.
Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.”
Psalm 25:5, “Lead me in Your truth and teach me. For you are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.”
Psalm 5:3, “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”
Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you and you will only be silent.”
Wait, wait, wait – wait.
It’s kind of funny in a frustrating sort of way – our flesh says GO, GO, GO, GO – yet God’s word says, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT… Our natural instinct is to control the situation, fix the problem, work things out, but God again, says wait. Over and over again he tells us to wait – and promises while we do, he is moving. The kind of funny in a frustrating sort of way thing here is His ways are higher than ours – and no matter how much we like or don’t like that truth… His ways work – in a way that ours never will.
If your tired of trying to be the perfection you can never be, I encourage you to push through and complete this act of surrender by stepping back and allowing God to be God. I encourage you to write these verses down, grab a screenshot – or keep this post handy. The moment you choose to allow God to do his work is the same moment you’re going to be tempted to pick this “thing” back up and do it yourself.
Determine in your mind today to commit your path to the Lord. Allow these verses to be the crutch you cling to that holds you back from not following through. Trust God to do what he has promised. Wait and allow him to stretch your roots deep. Allow him to conquer this giant for you, to be strength where you are weak, perfection where you are imperfect.
Today requires a choice to be made, and this choice is to allow God to do what he has said he will do. Make this decision – choose the good part, the part that won’t be taken from you, the part that leads you to experience peace, love, joy, and comfort in your home. Join me, together, let’s lay our cares at the feet of Jesus, and sit there, but don’t sit there and stare watching for God’s move. Sit there and worship the God who is already making a way where you don’t see one. Praise him for the answer to this prayer before you see its results and wait – Choose Him.
Prayer
King Jesus,
You are a way-maker. You are MY promise keeper. You deserve all glory, honor, and praise. I thank you that you are trustworthy. I thank you that you are omnipotent. You have ALL power. All power is in your hand, even the power that I question at times when I refuse to allow you to work your way. Please forgive me for not allowing your work to be complete in my life. Forgive me for trying to be in control, and not surrendering to you. Today, I come to you committed to releasing this piece of me to you. I commit my path to you, and I grab hold of your promise to me that you will establish the plan of my life. Your ways are higher than mine, and I’m ready to accept that truth and allow you to usher in the hope and future that you have planned for my life and my home. I praise you today for hearing my prayer. I praise for you for your help in handing this burden to you, and I praise you for your help in allowing me to leave it in your hand and trust you in your ways.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen
Want to know more about the Steps to Surrender?
4 Steps to Surrender; the day I stopped trying to fix it.
4 Steps to Surrender: Step 1 Admit
A ton of truth packed into this post. I’ve found that waiting is a big part of being in God’s will. There’s a lot of training to do in the waiting. Just recently, I’ve noticed this quality showing up in me as well. When I’ve been faced with some pretty big decisions, I take my time, knowing the answers will come, but not quickly. I must allow him to work, as well as give me wisdom and discernment. I’m right with you on this one.
Thanks so much for reading Traci! I love that you said discernment – yes! Discernment is a poweful necessity!
Timeliness does not dictate effectiveness. I love that and sometimes waiting on God’s timing is hard but I’ve learned when we wait on Him everything seems to be just right. Stopping by from By His Grace bloggers.
Thanks for stopping by! Yes – waiting on Him is hard even when we know it’s best. I’m so thankful for his help, patience and grace in handling our human condition!
I love your statement “When it comes to God timeliness does not dictate effectiveness …” . God’s ways are always more effective. Sometimes I would appreciate a super quick result…OK- I ALWAYS would appreciate a super quick result, but when I look back and see how He has moved in a process, I can see the benefits.
Kathi, I’m so glad I’m not the only one that always wants the super quick result!!!
Thanks for sharing! In a period of waiting, and definitely fighting the urge to strive forward, but rather be still and know that He is God and in control and has a plan and a purpose for me.
Such a hard intentional thing to do but sooooo worth the battle as we see God’s plan unfold!
So good!! I love how you pointed out that our flesh says “go” while God says “wait”.