God’s Grace for TodaySýnishorn

The Journey of Surrender

We don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. -2 Corinthians 4:18

It was a hard day when my husband found out that he’d soon lose his job. We knew that we had no reason to fear that our basic needs would be met, but the uncertainty was still terrifying.

As I processed my jumbled emotions, I found myself revisiting a favorite poem by sixteenth-century reformer, John of the Cross. Entitled “I Went In, I Knew Not Where,” the poem depicts the wonder to be found in a journey of surrender, when going “past the boundaries of knowing,” we learn to “discern the Divine in all its guises.” And that’s what my husband and I are trying to do during this season—to turn our focus from what we can control and understand, to the unexpected, mysterious, and beautiful ways God can be found all around us.

The apostle Paul invited believers on a journey from the seen to the unseen, from outward to inward realities, and from temporary struggles to the “glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Paul didn’t say this because he lacked compassion for their struggles. But he knew it would be through letting go of what they could understand, that they could experience the comfort, joy, and hope they so desperately needed (vv. 10, 15-16). Then they could know the wonder of Christ’s life making all things new. Monica La Rose

When have you experienced God’s presence in ways you couldn’t understand? In what areas of your life might you experience God beyond the “boundaries of knowing”?

Loving God, there’s so much heartbreak and uncertainty in our world, so much brokenness that we can’t understand. Help me to learn to follow You past what I can understand to the wonder of Your life breathing new life in and around me.