Freedom in Surrender: Live God’s Great Purpose for YouSample

Count every breath as evidence you have purpose.

Do you know someone with such irrepressible faith that they can live fully even in the most limiting circumstances? For Aidyn Kelley in the novel The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip, that person is Clara Kip. When the ambitious, twenty-something-year-old reporter goes to Sacred Promise nursing home to help the 79-year-old hospice patient prepare her obituary, she expects to see a bedridden old woman. Instead, she meets Mrs. Kip, a spirited lady whose passions include wearing brightly colored track suits, refusing wheelchairs, and risking life and limb for a chocolate chip cookie from the dining room. She sows seeds of faith and hope into everyone around her—especially those who don’t seem to want them.

Rather than knocking on heaven’s door, Mrs. Kip still storms God’s throne room with prayers like this:

“Lord, your world and your people are treasures to me. Thank you, God, for these gifts. Thank you for the staff here at Sacred Promise. Thank you for this place to shelter in your care. Show me how I can serve you today among these people. Amen.” The Lord never failed to answer a request for work to do.

Mrs. Kip dedicates her remaining hours, words, and energy to God, trusting him to use her, even with all her pain, limitations, and quickly dwindling hours.

Psalm 139 says that God predetermined the number of days of your life before you were even conceived. He created this space you are in specifically with you in mind—this time, in this generation, with your gifts and experiences and circles of influence—for a reason. Until our last predetermined breath is used, he has a purpose for us. Will you surrender all that you are so that his purpose for your every breath will come to pass?

Prayer:

Sovereign God, you weave every life together with immeasurable tenderness. You have put me in this time and place among these people for a reason. Help me to see the hours of my life as the blessing they are and these people around me as the gifts they are. Show me how I can serve you today among them. What little I have to give, I give with all that I am. Multiply these offerings. May they bring glory to your name and your name alone.