Hope For Today "Surrender"

What does it take to be in right relationship with God? Some say, "Faith." Others say, "Good Work." What does God say? That's what really matters, isn't it?

The Bible tells us that love is patient.  How many of us would profess to be patient? Most of us find it easy to be impatient and the only thing that matters in those moments is not how we got there but will we choose to stay that way.

Shame is such a powerful emotion that plagues many human beings.  It can be the shame we feel for the ugly things we said and did or the shame we felt after someone harmed or abused us, God wants us to overcome all of it and live life to the full.

In the same way that God has a plan for each of our individual lives, God also has a plan for our lives collectively in communities and countries.

When I read this question in a devotional I consult, it set me thinking. The question was, “Am I treating the gospel as a life hack or am I genuinely pursuing the kingdom of God? What was the author trying to communicate?

Something fundamental happens to us when we invite Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and turn our will and our life over to the care of God.  Things that were dead in us come alive and we are able to desire new things, think new thoughts, understand life in a new way, and actually behave differently. 

Many of us lost our true identity because we grew up in dysfunctional families and were forced to assume survival roles. God invites us to the truth that we are loved and that living now in the embrace of His love, we can become the complete person He created us to be.  Our life with God in recovery is about finding both character strengths to build on and character defects that hinder us from becoming loving fulfilled individuals. 

We’re looking at Step 3 of the 12 Steps:  We made a decision to turn our will and our life over to the care of God as we understood Him. What does that look like in practical way?

The experience of life outside the will and care of God is helplessness and frustration when trials and temptations come our way.  The good news is that when we respond to God’s gracious offer of new life in relationship with Him, we become His beloved children and all God’s resources are made available to us.  That’s what Step 3 of the 12 Steps is all about.

We’re reflecting on the 12 Steps of AA and how they open a window for us to recognize and receive the goodness of God.  Today we look at Step Two: We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. The harsh reality is that we need God’s help to even come to know and believe what’s true.  One man who needed help said to Jesus, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”  He was speaking what so many of us find in our hearts.

As we move through Jesus’ list of the kind of attitudes we should have and act on we come to the one that says: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6

Whenever we become conscious of our failures and the harms we have caused others, whether that’s through an inventory of our character defects or just the to and fro of daily life, then a well of deep sorrow may overwhelm us. The only question to ask ourselves that really matters in that moment is, “Am I saddened enough by the painful mess I am in to be willing to come before God and admit that I am powerlessness over my self-willed ways?”