Surrender Your StoryÀpẹrẹ

Every time we buy into the lie that we are self-sufficient beings apart from God, we believe that we do not need God’s empowerment or God’s lordship over our lives. In Ephesians 2:8–9, Paul wanted the church at Ephesus to understand the lavish gift of God’s grace. Read it with me: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Did you catch that? The life we live and the salvation we’ve been given is not a result of our abilities or our own strength, but a work of God’s grace. Paul couldn’t have made it clearer: It is not our own doing; it is the gift of God. What does this tell us?

This tells us that we are completely dependent on God to save us and continue His work through us daily. Our salvation is a gift of God’s own goodness, not one that we can achieve for ourselves based on our own merit, efforts, or control.

We were never created to be self-sufficient. The truth of the matter is, God didn’t wire us that way. We may stumble along, seeming to get by okay on our own merit, but we can’t expect to thrive. We were fearfully and wonderfully made to be wholly dependent disciples. And I’m here to tell you there’s nothing wrong with being reliant on or sustained by God. It doesn’t make you weak; rather, it makes you strong. It releases your chains of striving and performing. It gives you rest, knowing you don’t have to have it all together because you are held by a God who does. It opens your eyes to a life story you never thought possible because it’s not up to you; it’s up to the Creator of the universe.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of salvation. Please give me strength and help me thrive as I depend on You to write my story. In the sweet name of Jesus, Amen.