A few months ago I posed the question, “Do I?” Do I trust the Lord
with my life, with my possessions, with the circumstances that surround
me? My friend Victoria says she often replaces the word “my” with “this” to remind herself that nothing, even life, is really and truly hers. I want to pray that way as well. Lord, help me trust you with this life and these possessions, none of which are actually mine. I did not make them, I cannot sustain them, and as tightly as I hold on, eventually they will wear out, want out or slowly fade away.
with my life, with my possessions, with the circumstances that surround
me? My friend Victoria says she often replaces the word “my” with “this” to remind herself that nothing, even life, is really and truly hers. I want to pray that way as well. Lord, help me trust you with this life and these possessions, none of which are actually mine. I did not make them, I cannot sustain them, and as tightly as I hold on, eventually they will wear out, want out or slowly fade away.
After a month in Nicaragua I realized how much I have been holding on to my own plans, expectations and perspective of where I want to be heading in life. I have come to find that it’s a dangerous thing to assume you know what is best for yourself or to live in such a way that suggests you have the ultimate authority and final say over what will happen.
I have been walking around this city for the past few weeks feeling like a prisoner, feeling as if I were carrying a ball and chain with me everywhere I went. Have you ever felt that way? It is not an ideal way to live. As Beth Moore points out in one of her Bible studies, “I fear…that we are so often attention-deficit that we settle for bearable when beauty is just around the corner.” Upon reading this statement a couple of weeks ago, I immediately knew she was speaking directly to me. Life has been bearable for me in Granada, but I know the Lord wants so much more for me. He wants beauty. Beauty of heart, beauty of mind, beauty in relationships. As a slave to my own plans and expectations, the freedom and beauty I long for will always be “just around the corner.”
It wasn’t until I began letting go of what I thought should be that things have started to reach their potential of what they could be. This is not an easy process; I doubt it happens overnight. But the peace, freedom and beauty that have been “just around the corner” for a while now are finally showing up in ways I never would have imagined.
Whatever we are grasping becomes our master. We are the slaves, imprisoned by what we are holding and suffocating the thing, and even ourselves, in the process. But if we would dare to follow His lead and open up our hand, He will bring forth beauty. Sometimes we hold on so tightly that the thing becomes infused to us, and the opening of the hand is all the more painful because we feel so deeply connected to whatever it is that must be severed.
Remember that He is the Good Shepherd. We can trust Him with our lives, with the people we love, with the people we don’t. We are in His hands and so is everyone else. There is no need to fear letting go. There will be pain, but in the end, if He is the one you are entrusting yourself to, there will be beauty.
Happened upon your blog from the AIM website, but wanted to say this statement is pretty profound, press on.
“the opening of the hand is all the more painful because we feel so deeply connected to whatever it is that must be severed”
It’s amazing how deeply connected you feel at the time, then the Lord shows up, and you realize that it is no sacrifice if it allows you to have more of the Lord. He is good.
Not that I understand it yet, but if you search, i never made a sacrifice, it brings up some great stories of men and women of faith, here’s one..http://www.bulletininserts.org/htaylor.html
Good stuff, press on. blessings.
You are beautiful!
Love, LSC
I like your processing – thanks for the encouragement.
this is a beautiful blog Heather. Thanks for sharing with us what God is doing in you. I love you lots!