Reader’s Choice: Faith is Surrender

Today’s post is dedicated to my pledge daughter Faby, who is all around amazing and is going into finals right now! Send her blessings and positive vibes to her on Twitter @iFabylous 

Right before Christmas, I wrote a reader’s choice on Maintaining Faith in a faithless world. Since then, I’ve almost finished reading the entire Bible and now have more thoughts about what Faith truly is. In short, faith is surrender.

The opposite of faith in my mind is control. When you are in perfect control of your environment and everything in your personal life, you don’t tend to lean on God. As long as everything is fine, God is not needed to a lot of people. I’m not even going to act like I’m different. Every time I’ve gone through a difficult period in my life, I’ve always gotten closer to God.

Whether this is by design or not, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The hardships that we endure gives us the ability to relate to others. If you never went through struggle, empathizing with others would be impossible. Yet, to get to a point of true faith, you have to be out of options.

You must be in over your head. You must think that it is all over. You must be broken and lost in the darkness because that is the only time you realize how much you really need the light. The blessing comes from God’s desire to have us lean on Him. It makes Him happy to have us recognize who He is and who He can be in our lives. However, a huge part of our problem is forgetting that need of Him in our lives after everything has worked out.

It’s similar to only talking to your parents when you’re in trouble. It may work in some familial relationships but most parents don’t want to only be depended on when things go wrong. God is similar. He wants us to treat Him as a permanent fixture in our lives instead of “break in case of emergency” box. We don’t have to fret and worry about every little things because it will be taken care of. God wants to help, we just have to want the help.

Personally, it wasn’t until I wrote Lukewarm Obedience that I personally gave in. I could trust God with my finances, safety, and academics, but never let Him take control of my relationships, friends, career, and life. I always held a little back to prove that I could do it by myself. I didn’t want to burden God with every little part of my life. God told me, “That’s what I’m here for”.

Since I’ve let go of trying to control everything in my life, He has helped me gain a sense ease. I have a sense of power knowing that my Father has my back because He hasn’t let me down yet. I still act spoiled if things don’t work out the way I initially planned but, he tends to offer me something better as time goes on. I’m still learning how to be patient and thankful, but that’s a post for another day.

Turn Your Brightness Up!

#BeMagnificent🔆