I love God. He has taken my life and has blessed it. He has healed me. He has lifted me up. He has helped me overcome. I love Him for this. He is amazing.
However, I recently realized that I don’t want Him to ask me for too much. I realized that I have several limits and boundaries… that I can only give Him so much. Moreover, it’s embarrassing to admit but there are certain parts of my life that I have pretty much said are off-limits to Him.
Wow. What a harsh realization that I want God for MY needs. To help MY life. To make things better for me.
I realized that my relationship with God is not going to grow or flourish if I don’t hand everything over to Him. I need to relinquish control of the areas of my life that I’ve been holding onto so tightly. My marriage, my children, the comfort of my home… I have to hand everything over to Him.
I’ve been operating in fear that if I hand everything over to Him, that He will ask me to do something I can’t do or request me to let go of something that I can’t let go of. I’ve been trying to control our relationship.
In order for my relationship with God to grow, I have to go “all in”. I have to hand absolutely EVERY part of my life over to God and trust that He will take care of everything. I have to trust that if He asks me to do something challenging or difficult, that He will provide the strength and grace for me to carry out His will.
So here, today, I am declaring (with an earnest heart and tears of joy in my eyes)… that I’m all in. Fully and completely. I’m all in.
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All in is scary…. but really if we can’t give Him our all, then I guess we are really not in at all. Thanks for this “talk”. I need it <3
I’m overjoyed that this posting touched you Hannah. Thank you for sharing.
xoxo
This is a beautiful reminder!
Thank you Susannah! I think I’ll be using this post in your Faith and Fellowship link-up this week.
I struggle with this ALL the time. There have been some devestating and trying times in my life, especially recently, and I always question why God would do things. What am I doing wrong? Am I not a good enough person? Maybe I need to follow suite and go all in.
Thanks for the message friend!
xoxo
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had some recent trying times. Perhaps this posting is the call you need to go all in. God has your best interests at heart. I know He does. I’m so glad this post touched you Tiffany.
xoxo
I struggle with this too. Things have happened in my past that makes me afraid to completely turn things over to God. Thank you for your inspirational post.
It’s almost a relief to hear that others encounter these struggles as well. It’s a big step to hand everything over to God but it’s critical. I’m glad this post inspired you Angela. Thank you.
This is beautiful! And very inspirational as well. I struggle with this from time to time as well since I tend to be a bit of a control freak ;)
I hear you, my friend. The reality is that we once were slaves to sin, but now we’re slaves to righteousness. The beautiful thing to remember is that our Master is loving and kind, with good plans for our lives. Even if those plans require sacrifice or involve pain and loss, He walks with us to make his purposes come to pass.
“All in.” I love it, and I want that, too.
I have immense faith in him and try my best at all things. BUT first remember him and ask him to bless me. With God everything is better. Right?
Thank you for sharing Z. You’re right, with God everything is better because He has an ultimate goal and purpose for our lives. We can’t even begin to imagine the plans He has for us.
I understand what you mean. Sometimes I find myself praying and adding a “but please dont….”. I often feel guilty for it, though I realize he understands what I truly mean and where i come from. It’s not easy to let go and let God and I think it’s brave of you to lay it out there like this. Thanks for sharing Jennifer
Oh yes… the prayer of “please don’t”. I’m familiar with that. It’s so important to remember that Christ gave us a “sample” prayer that included “your will be done”. He knew we would struggle with our will vs. His. Thanks for sharing Becky.
Hi Jennifer! I am just in awe and so proud of you all at the same time! I say that I’m going to surrender to the Lord, and then often just snatch it back because I get nervous. Nervous of what? I don’t know…maybe he will forget me? But he will never do that.
I want 2014 to be my year of ‘surrender’ and you have confirmed it. Thank you! Let’s have a real new year, and a year of favor from the Lord! Yay!
Blessings to my friend,
Ceil
We all have periods where we doubt God’s real love and total protection. He knows that, and forgives us all the same; because He made us and knows our human nature. God will not test us beyond our capabilities to endure. He is not, after all, in the business of losing souls. And when He asks of us He will make sure that we are capable to respond.
May He bless you always.
I’m good at giving over everything… then snatching back some to keep. Walking alongside you in the journey :)
you’re not alone. I am here too and I’ve been learning of this. But God is faithful He turns everything for good. Have a glorious week.
Blessing
I encourage you in your resolve to be all in!! I’m in the middle of a trial at the moment and keep trying to give it to God, but when things aren’t happening fast enough, I begin to worry again :-( He is faithful and I am trying to trust Him COMPLETELY … because we all know He knows better than us! LoL Wishing you the peace that only He can give <3
thank you for linking up! hope all is well. continued blessings!
<3
Thank you for sharing your heart with us in this honest post, Jennifer. I, too, remember being a baby Christian and hearing others pray for God’s will in their lives. I remember being afraid of praying for His will because I feared where He would take me, what He would ask of me, and what I would have to give up. This is actually a very good thing to realize that we are here because it is a sign of our spiritual maturity. When we are able to say we are all in, we know we are growing in Him and in our faith. This is where the rubber meets the road, as they say. Love this one, too!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and wisdom on this Heather. I still regard myself as a “baby” Christian but these beautiful revelations and steps closer to God have helped me grow a lot over the past year. Plus, fortunately, it’s not a race but a journey with our Lord.
Thank you for joining me on my blog pause Heather.
Happy New Year!
You are so right, Jennifer, it isn’t a race, but a journey. It’s also not even a matter of being a baby Christian or a mature one, but more that we are maturing in Him rather than staying as babes. I am so thankful to be on this journey with you. Happy New Year, my friend!