Yielding

I haven’t been to many funerals in my life, but I’ve certainly felt the agony of loss. The summer before I answered the call to ministry, I experienced a deep and stinging loss. God inexplicably removed a very tender and precious relationship from my life.

I didn’t see then what I clearly see now: that relationship had become more important to me than the Lord. I had come to the place in my life where I felt that God owed me that relationship because of what I’ve done to deserve it. I had kept my part of the Christian bargain, I’d even prayed in Jesus’ Name that God would settle up the details, and now all I had to do was sit back and see God make my life work out according to my ways. I had it all mapped out.

Nothing but pride convinces us that God is waiting to do our bidding for us. We hand Him a list of demands and fully anticipate that He will make it happen, as if the God of the whole Universe, the God who created all there is, is waiting to do what we tell Him to do.

When we get to that place, God has to remove those things in our life that become more important to us than He is.

For me, in that season of my life, it was a relationship. For you reading this devotional today, it could be a ministry or a job or a dream. Has the thing you long for become more important to you than the Lord? It is only by losing something of great value that space is made for the Lord to step in and show you that He is far more valuable and sufficient than the thing that was lost.

When God calls you to Himself, nothing will stand in the way of His Purposes for your life. He is faithful to you to the end.

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Adapted from Still Standing: Following Jesus Even When It Hurts by Lina AbuJamra. Copyright © 2024 by Lina AbuJamra. Reprinted with permission of Moody Publishers. All rights reserved.