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

Trust God to work in the places you can’t see.

In the opening scene of The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip, Clara Kip is on her way to a skilled nursing facility where she knows she will breathe her last. She also knows her long-held dream of ministering to orphans in São Paulo, Brazil, is now too far out of reach. It is the final act in a life filled with loss, grief, and redirection. Yet even in this moment, she believes that no matter her circumstances, God can and will redeem them for good. Because he has done so time and time again in her life.

When she is alone for the first time in her new and final earthly home, her priority is to turn to her heavenly Father:

She closed her eyes and relaxed into the chair as if the Lord himself had provided his lap on which she could rest. Without fail, he always found a way to comfort his beloved, despite the broken dreams and the prayers yet unanswered. He always was up to something good, even if she couldn’t see it. In fact, he did his best work at such times. If only she had learned that truth earlier in life.

In this time of prayer, she recalls how God’s hand has moved in every difficult season she has experienced. What may have started as loss, God turned into gain. What plunged her into grief drove her to the loving arms of the Father. Every unexpected turn, every hardship ultimately worked to broaden her perspective, deepen her character, and sharpen her hope. When she surrendered her desires to God and prayed for his will to be done in every circumstance, he unfailingly showed her he had a better plan in mind all along.

In what aspect of your life will you ask God to increase your faith that he is working for the good?

Prayer:

Lord, I close my eyes and envision you holding me, like a father snuggling his child in his lap. I am held so close that I can hear your heartbeat. Abba, you see my circumstances. You see me. I trust you to love me through this. Without fail, you have always found a way to comfort your beloved. Help me to look back over my life and see evidence of your hand at work, even amid broken dreams and prayers yet unanswered. I trust you are up to something good now, though I can’t see it. Lead me, Father. I lay down my desires to follow you, the Beautiful One I adore.