Stephen Cutis Chapman has a wonderful song called
"Great Expectations".
It gets me thinking...
What if, for all the dreams we dreamt since we were
young, what if those thoughts were the very ones actually blocking us from what
God is waiting to give to us? What if, in turn, we looked at our dream
and then placed it on God's altar? What if we said:
"Take it. I'm
done with it. Your will be
done."
What if we realized that when we finally let go of
our dreams, and give them over to God, that He'd give us something better?
Our world today says: "Chase your dreams. Don't let go." But, what if letting
go is the very thing that God is asking you to do, despite how much you don’t
want to do it?
What? Let
go of your dreams? Scripture is
filled with verses that say He'll give you the desires of your heart. Why
would we ever have to let go?
Well, let's flip the coin. What if the dream
you are dreaming is actually leading you in the wrong direction? Or....
What if your dream is your god? We usually
sacrifice for our work, or give away everything we value just to get to our end
goal. Do we do that for God?
What if God in Heaven is just waiting for us to
stop and give it all to Him?
What if
He is waiting for us to get our identity off the completion of our dreams and
into who He says we are?
Whatever the case, surrender could be what He is
asking of you. No doubt, the
very thought of potentially surrendering a dream is difficult. There is
no easy in letting go. I'll be the
first to admit, surrender hurts.
Let's be honest. When looking head on at both the choice to let go and then
the actual act of letting go, it’s no wonder our knees buckle. Looking straight ahead at both of these
massive hurdles forecasts potential devastation.
However, when looking at the same situation in a
hindsight view (verses a straight ahead one), we can surmise that an opposite outcome
might occur. Through the
lenses of this different perspective, we can see how letting go gives way to a
time of healing, where God can remove what was holding you captive and restore
those wounds with Himself. It is a
time of restoration, a time of renewal.
This act of placing your dream into God’s hands
also opens yourself up to new things; things that would not have otherwise been
experienced had you not let go. It’s
in this final showdown of will you or won’t you, and you do it, then are
healed, that you meet a new friend: open spaces. Spaces where new terrain begs to be explored. New parts of you will suddenly bloom
like springtime.
You might even
wonder:
“Where has this been all this time?”
No doubt, the surprise on your doorstep was just waiting for
you… patiently.
I must admit that I’m a late bloomer in this
department (except for Abraham, aren’t many of us??). I've discovered that I am very thankful for things I've had to let go
of AFTER I've gone down the road and seen what God was doing.
Nonetheless, even though my realizations were after the fact, they have still
spurred my faith where I can now trust without seeing and let go at an earlier
point.
Belief and obedience are in this mix too. Through the Holy Spirit, I am empowered
to believe in God. This belief
empowers me to trust in Him. Trusting
in Him empowers me to obey what He’s asked me to do. This obedience empowers me to surrender. Surrender empowers me to let go.
So, if the Lord is asking you to
place something you treasure on His altar, take heart. You know the One
whom you are giving it to. He will take care of it the best way possible.
And somehow...
He will provide a ram in the thicket. He
bring good from a terrible situation. He will make your path straight
when direction is hard to come by. He will provide something better.
These are His promises to us and we know His promises do not fail, though
we might, in our intermittent season, feel as such. Instead of relying
and responding to these feelings, hang onto the God who you know will come
through for you; even if you are starring a loss in the face. Believe me,
I've been there. Better yet....
Believe Him. He's been there long before I
ever was.
Furthermore, we know that He will
provide something better because He already has: He provided Himself, through
His Son Jesus, slayed on Heaven's altar so that we could all have something
better... new life, which ultimately is the desire of our heart and His.
“I Surrender All”
Steven Curtis Chapman You Tube Channel
Ephesians
1: 11-14 NIV
“In Him
we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who
works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that
we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ
when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him
with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our
inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the
praise of His glory.”
© Candice Irion. All Rights Reserved.
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