Fast Food FaithSample

Have It Your Way

Do you ever wish everything would go according to plan, in the exact way that you had it played out in your head? Sometimes our schedules, big projects… really just life in general doesn’t go according to how we planned it. Maybe you don’t get the job you wanted, you and your friends drift apart, or a major project is not finished at the deadline it needs to be. How do you respond when things don’t go your way? Are you flexible and able to pivot at the last minute? Do you get frustrated and give up? Or do you find grit and persevere?

In our culture today, we are constantly told through social media that if things do not go your way then it must not have been meant for you. If someone does not go along with what you had planned out in your head then we should probably cut them off, at least according to social media, that has become the new normal. In week one, we looked at how to slow down in a fast-paced culture because God’s timing isn’t always immediate. Oftentimes, we have to wait on God when it comes to the things we plan out for ourselves, but what if I told you that our way is not the best way? What if God calls us higher and to surrender our plans, place them in His hands, and say “God, these are my desires but I trust that Your ways and Your plans are higher than my own, so I lay everything down and trust you to take control.”? This is not always easy to do, in fact this is a daily surrender to the Lord. We like to know what exactly is going to happen, when it’s going to happen, and even how it’s going to happen. We like to be in control and have things our way. Being a Christ-follower means surrendering that control and trusting God.

Surrendering may even be a reason you’re hesitant to fully submit to the Lord. Control over our own lives and having things our own way is what we naturally want because it seems less scary, but in reality this is a false security that the enemy wants us to believe. Maybe you’re going through this study and things that you are struggling to surrender to God have already come to mind. There are truths that you may not want to believe because it means surrendering your life to God fully and that makes you uncomfortable. Comfort is a major reason why our relationships with the Lord stay stagnant. Like at Burger King, when we have it our way, life may seem more pleasing but ordering two whoppers and four small fries will leave us feeling more sick than satisfied.

This week, my prayer is that you are able to see examples through God’s Word of what it looks like to surrender, and even what it looks like when we choose not to surrender. When it comes to Jesus, we can not pick and choose to create a custom Savior, we get all of Jesus or none of Him.