We talked about trusting God in the first part and now we are going to talk about what happens after we have decided to trust, not taking the thing we surrendered back and trying to do things for ourselves.
So I woke up this morning with a strong desire to run. Like more than just a wishful thinking type desire, I had this feeling that running was going to put me closer to God. (I know it's weird, but I ended up "running with it"- pun intended) As I was running and reflecting when I made it 2.5 miles to the lake, the idea for this post came to me.
We've probably all heard the phrase "Let go and let God", and I am sure that you agree that this is easier said than done. In theory, being ready for a change and surrendering everything, including your stubborn self and fleshly ways COMPLETELY to God is a beautiful thing, but in reality it is a messy thing.
We are born again with the spirit inside of us, so now not only do we have our human nature but we also have the gift of the Holy Spirit. Again, this is a beautiful blessing to be able to walk by the Spirit, but it is a little more complicated than that.
Have you ever just been spiritually exhausted? Like tired of fighting this battle in your head over and over again? Surrendering a part of you to God only to take it back out of fear? I've talked about fear in several blog posts, but I really want to talk about this battle going on inside of you.
When the Spirit is inside of us, there is a war that wages in us. This war, at the core is God vs. Evil. It is God against the world, the desires of the flesh and the advancements of the enemy. We know from Ephesians 6:12:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
So this includes temptations of the flesh and attacks from the enemy himself. What this has to do with letting God is that we can not fight this battle on our own, in fact if we try to fight this battle in our strength we will be defeated, so we need to LET GOD so he can fight the battle for us complete the transformation within us.
For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:11.
So God wants to work in us to complete his purpose in us, but we get sidetracked and bogged down with this "veil of responsibility". We don't need to carry these weights, or burdens or hassles or stresses, we have our Heavenly Father to take the weight off of our shoulders for us. Human nature leans towards wanting an answer for everything and we also want to be able to control what happens to us and our circumstances, but in reality we don't control our lives, God does. Now I know there is the topic of free will (and it is quite a hot topic!) But my main idea here is that when we LET GOD we realize that he is in control.
In fact, the very notion that we can LET GOD take over and carry our burdens is a choice itself. We choose to take on our problems or pray and give them to God.
So if we make a choice to let God lead our lives, can we also choose to live by the Spirit?
YES. A THOUSAND TIMES YES. We choose to live and walk by the Spirit. Each tiny decision you make is either Spirit-driven or Self-driven. The only sense of control you need is the control you feel when you decide to submit your life to Christ.
Run with me for a minute with this, when we surrender to God and let him lead in each area of our life, the stresses of doing everything ourselves melt away and it allows us to keep running the race.
"let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us," Hebrews 12:1
Of course, In the process of not trying to fix things ourselves or control our circumstances, the enemy comes after us. He is ready to again tell us that we can't do this and that it is a lost cause. The good news is that just like we control surrendering our worries and troubles to God, we also control the ability for Satan to attack our mind. Consider 2 Corinthian 10:5:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Take captive every thought, we can do this by asking ourselves some truths behind what we are thinking. First we know the enemy came to "steal, kill and destroy" so my dear friend came up with these questions to ask yourself when you feel you might be thinking some questionable thoughts.
1. Does this steal my joy?
2. Does this kill my contentment?
3. Does this destroy my peace?
Guess what? If the answer is yes to any of the questions, WE DON"T HAVE TO CONTINUE WITH THAT THOUGHT! Instead we can choose to reaffirm the truth and kill that thought planted by the enemy. Actually, every negative thought we have we can make obedient to Christ by aligning it with the truth of the grace and love of God.
Again I thought I was going a completely different direction with this post, but alas, it is heavy on my heart to let you know that you are not a prisoner in your mind and you don't have to entertain thoughts that steal your joy, kill your contentment or destroy your peace.
LET GOD take over in your life. LET GOD handle the problems and worries you face. LET GOD show you His way. LET GOD defeat the enemy within you. LET GOD quiet your fleshly desires. LET GOD so you may live by the spirit.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16
Thanks for reading friends! Please also check out my website butterflybeginnings.net for more on how I can empower you on your spiritual journey! I am offering 3 FREE coaching sessions to help you get on the right track, please email stephanie@butterflybeginnings.net to get started!
No comments:
Post a Comment