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I wasn't going to write a devotional this morning. I didn't feel motivated, and besides, I didn't know what to write about (and as I begin this, I still don't!). But God had different ideas. He appears to want to give me a lesson in total submission and dependence, which, of course, are the prerequisites for receiving His wisdom, guidance and direction in life.
As I type that, I think that the thing that keeps me from receiving His wisdom, His guidance and His direction is the two prerequisites: submission and dependency. These are not ideas that are seen as positive in our societies. We teach that we must not be dependent on anyone, but we must stand up for ourselves. And I don't see this as contradictory to what God wants for us. The problem is, we only see submission and dependency from an earthly perspective...
But what if...
What if we had someone who we could truly depend upon, someone who knew what was best for us and only reacted towards us with utmost love? What if depending upon that person provided us with power to overcome life's difficulties? What if that dependency ensured us of always making the right choices in life?
What if we had someone who truly deserves our submission? Someone who would not abuse it, but, once submitted, would treat us as equals, would honor and bless us?
What if these two scenarios were actually true and descriptive of the same person? Wouldn't we be happy to submit to that person? Wouldn't we be happy to depend upon them?
In all realty, we do have someone who truly deserves our submission, who won't abuse it, who will honor and bless us, not because we deserve it but because He loves us. We do have someone worthy of our dependency, One who wants to provide us with power to overcome life's difficulties and desires to ensure we are always making the right choices in life. That Someone is God, our all-loving, all-powerful, all-knowing, always-present Heavenly Father who loved us enough to make a way for us to be rejoined to Him.
So what's keeping us from submitting to Him? What's causing us to refuse to depend upon Him?
Of late, God has been calling me deeper into a relationship with Him. This means, of course, that I must submit my all to Him, I must become totally dependent upon Him, but something is stopping me... As I was praying about this yesterday, I asked God about it. His response was instantly placed on my heart: Fear!
In a nutshell, we're afraid of losing control. We, as humans, value control. We can't be in control when we submit, and when we depend upon someone or something, we are certainly not in control! And bad things happen when we aren't in control, right? I mean, we certainly aren't in control of the deadly Corona Virus, and we can still see how awful things have become!
And to take it a step further, all the bad things happening in the world are outside of our control!
I'll admit, I argued a bit with God here. Maybe I like control a bit too much, but I’m not afraid of my loving Heavenly Father!
God's response? "Are you truly unafraid? Do you truly believe that I have your best interest in heart? Do you truly understand that I will always be there for you, protect you, provide for you, even if the earthly things you depend upon now are no longer there? If you were truly free of fear, you would not have trouble submitting to My will and depending upon Me!"
In that instant, God revealed to me how dependent I had become on my lifestyle, on my possessions, on my status, and I began to understand how materialistic I have become. Is this why I’m having trouble going to the next level of submissions? Am I afraid God might call me out of my little comfort zone?
Naturally, I have this fear because God has called me out of my comfort zone time and time again...But wait! During each of those times, did He not provide for me? Did He not give me the courage/energy/wisdom/etc. that the situation called for? And at the end, did any of these times go wrong?
No. Not at all. God is, indeed, dependable, He keeps all His promises.
Oh God, help me to put all the "what ifs" and "but then"s into Your hands. Help me to surrender my fears to you. Help me to put aside all of the things I depend upon now and instead, turn to depending fully upon You. Help me to surrender completely into Your will, for only there will I find the fullness of joy that You have for me. Help me to fully embrace the Truth of Your Word: "You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever." (Ps. 16:11 NASB)
Wait! If God can pull together this devotional out of nothing, how much more can He pull our lives together, giving us the direction and guidance and wisdom we require?
Think about it!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two, Author — "Aboard God's Train — A Journey With God Through the Valley of Cancer", Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.
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