Words of Wisdom, Email Newsletter
Plant seeds of wisdom today
Take the next 48 or so breaths slowly and reflect deeply on your life. I hope these words help you grow in you the most valuable treasure in life: wisdom. Wisdom grows imperceptibly but flourishes like a mighty oak, standing the test of time.
WoW 125: On transformation through surrender
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Seek to continually be in a state of surrender to God.
Being surrendered to God means you are present, willing, and accepting.
When you are in a state of surrender, you are present in the moment, connected to God. You are willing to receive God’s love and welcome His presence. You are His, surrendered fully to Him. You are not too hurried to notice God's direction. You're seeking Him each morning, and opening your heart to Him throughout the day.
When you are in a state of surrender, you are willing to do whatever God wants of you. You are openly seeking God’s will and direction for your life. You are not taking control of your life, you're entrusting that control over to God. Instead of being driven by fear and the unknown, when you are surrendered to God, you live in a trusting relationship with Him. This state of surrender is optimistic and open to God who you trust is at work, regardless of what you can see.
When you are in a state of surrender, you are accepting of suffering. You can accept comfort and His loving presence as well as suffering, loss, and the desolation of not feeling God's presence. You can accept the bitter and the sweet. Come what may, you are His. Whether you understand why you are suffering does not, ultimately, matter. What you decide to do in the midst of suffering is what matters. You can open your heart to God. You can welcome the highs and lows of life with a quiet acceptance and a courageous faith. When you are surrendered, you don’t need things to go your way. You can lose yourself to God and desire only what He desires. The furnace of suffering reveals the treasures of transformation so do not spurn its refining fire.
Make your highest aim in life this one simple intention: to be in a state of surrender to God.
Quotes
“The deepest things that I have learned in my own life have come from the deepest suffering. And out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things that I know about God. And I imagine that most of you would say exactly the same. And I would add this, that the greatest gifts of my life have also entailed the greatest suffering. The greatest gifts of my life, for example, have been marriage and motherhood. And let’s never forget that if we don’t ever want to suffer, we must be very careful never to love anything or anybody. The gifts of love have been the gifts of suffering. Those two things are inseparable.”
Elizabeth Elliot, Suffering is Never for Nothing
“These four practices—silence and solitude, Sabbath, simplicity, and slowing—have helped me tremendously to move toward abiding as my baseline. But to say it yet again, all four of them are a means to an end. The end isn’t silence and solitude; it’s to come back to God and our true selves. It isn’t Sabbath; it’s a restful, grateful life of ease, appreciation, wonder, and worship. It isn’t simplicity: it’s freedom and focus on what matters most. It isn’t even slowing; it’s to be present, to God, to people, to the moment. And the goal is practice, not perfection. Multiple times a day, I slip back into hurry. The gravitational pull is overwhelming at times. Lately, when that happens, I have this little mantra I repeat: Slow down. Breathe. Come back to the moment. Receive the good as gift. Accept the hard as a pathway to peace. Abide.”
John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Questions
What do you need to let go of?
Will you surrender your greatest fear and your greatest pain to God?
What is God asking you to do, or to feel?
(Use these questions as a journal prompt and to guide your prayers this week)
Endnote
Seek today to be fully surrendered to God. It’s the only way to true flourishing.
Live wisely,
Josh
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