(This post is dedicated to the OL Ladies!)
It wasnât a day where Iâd set out to save someoneâs life, it just happened by accident. I was all of 11 years old, and after strapping on my jade-green swim suit, and cocky-fresh-from-swim-class attitude, jumped off the deep-end diving board, and headed straight for the shallows. I swam over to the steps to say hi to my baby sister only to arrive on the scene just after she went completely under water. Bubbles floated up from her mouth and everything in me lurched to the rescue. I screamed, pulled her out of the water and wrapped her in a towel until my wild heart knew she was fully safe. Coughing, sputtering and finally able to breathe again after being top-side, I thank God for those tiny moments of being in the right place at the right time, for the perfectly appointed rescue. Weâre all in need of rescue and 30+ years later Iâm still learning what Godâs rescue of us is all about, and it often happens in ways I never expected.
Youâd think Iâd have gotten the lesson by now, but some of us (ahem, yours truly) are slower than others.Â
The roles feel swapped now, and I am the one whoâs gone under water. In feeling submerged in this season, a slew of questions have surfaced begging me to ask if I trust Godâs timing or not. Our family is going through a lot of challenges. Monumental financial set backs seem to abound. Creative projects that I thought would take flight, seemed to flop and failâŠ..all of it mounts up like evidence putting God on trial, as if heâs thrown me in the deep end letting me sort myself out. Like my baby sister, Iâm afraid of accidentally going under and equally as afraid that no one will come to the rescue if I do. What was he thinking when he put me in this season of life? Doesnât he need my help to right the ship? And then God in his kindness steps in. Itâs not a matter of âwhat is God doing?â But âwhere is God working?â And âDo I trust him, even if I donât like where we see the story going?â
Arenât we all a little, (or a lot) guilty of the same thing? The end result makes us despise instead of embrace the very intentional thing that God has called us to, in the very intentional season that he has called us to do it in. Weâre not God, and yet the posture of our heart says the very opposite. So, in order to help us embrace the season we’re in, hereâs 3 keys that have helped me in this process:
- Let go of trying to micromanage God. Spoiler alert! He doesnât need us to do what he is going to do. He calls us to be a part of where HE is working, but being a backseat driver never did God (or ourselves) any favors. He doesnât need us to run the show, he’s only invited us along to walk in intimacy with him, obey what he asks, and trust him to be our God and Father in the process.
- Repent and lay down control. I know how harsh this may sound, but I want you to take a minute, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and ask God what you are holding on to that is getting in your own way. I have had to do this every day, sometimes multiple times a day, but I’m living proof repentance works friend! Have you been thinking that you know how to manage your life better than God? Or, do you think that you know what is best? Guess what? That’s pride, and it’s not doing you any favors! Repenting, laying down control and taking on what God has for you is ultimately what is best. So lay down control, and let him lead you!
- Walk out surrender with worship & gratitude. Nothing says we love God, and trust him with running our lives quite like walking away from control and taking up surrender. And nothing says we surrender quite like worshipping God and filling our life with gratitude. Think about it, worship puts God in his place- on the throne, and at the center. Gratitude celebrates in the micro and macro how we see God at work. The combination of the two show us clearly that we need our eyes off of ourselves and whatever contribution we think we can make, and put it squarely in the hands of God so that we can trust him wholeheartedly.
As we close I want to leave you with two final things: something for you to process on your own, and an observation from nature. Here we go!
One- can you remember a moment when God worked something out better than you could ever have imagined? Think back to a time when you were rescued and you didnât even know that you needed it. Or a time where God said ‘no’ to what you thought you wanted and instead gave you exactly what you needed? Wasnât it better than you had hoped? Now, take that memory, let it evoke surrender to God, and lay your current circumstances at his feet. Take out your journal, go for a walk, press in, get alone in prayerâŠ.whatever you need to do and let go of the control and instead, embrace the God who walks with you every single step of the way.
Two- I took the above photo when I was at a getaway last weekend. This is my first spring in Texas and it was incredible for this country girl to walk by farms full of blue bonnets, wild flowers and gentle breezes. Hands down, the flowers were the show stoppers of the weekend. They did nothing to grow on their own but responded to the wind, rain and sun God sent, and guess what? They BLOOMED! This is what God has for us friends! Growing down deep, established in the love of God, to flourish when and where he has us, in the middle of the perfect season he has placed us in!
Much love,
Joy