Open Hands, Willing HeartSample

The Path to Saying Yes

Do you find that even when you want to surrender to God, instead you find yourself trying to manipulate Him? I catch myself praying with directives because I want to control the outcome of my circumstances: “This is how You need to answer, God, and this is how You need to fix this situation.” But over the years I’ve come to realize that no two situations are alike and God will deliver in the way He sees fit. Each time He does it a little differently so that we learn to rely on Him rather than on a formula that worked in the past, a business model we read in a book, our personal gifts, or our previous experience. 

What I have learned over several decades of following Jesus is that the essence of surrender is in the posture of our hearts. It is the spirit of following Jesus with hands and hearts open, humbly letting go of whatever we tend to clutch and control as we seek His perspective in all things. When we are in this place of surrender, we give the Holy Spirit free rein to direct and sustain our journey and we realize that our lives are part of a much greater story: God’s story of hope and restoration.

As women after God’s heart, you and I desire to please God and be aligned with His will. We want to be used by Him and experience the peace and fulfillment He wants for us. It’s all too easy, though, to fall into living mechanically, with a rule-based approach to the Christian life, or to get too focused on what we want when we want it. When life isn’t unfolding the way we thought it would, we wonder if we’re on track with who He would have us be and what He would have us do. We long for more fulfillment, contentment, and meaning, but above all we want to see our lives from His perspective and experience more of Him. 

The path to saying yes to whatever God asks often feels scary, but open-handed living is worth everything it asks of us because it makes our day-to-day lives more purposeful, powerful, and pleasing to God. 

Describe a time when God prompted you to let go of something you were reluctant to relinquish. If you were able to let go, what was the outcome?