A Condition, Not a Place…

The other day I was reading from a book called Come Away My Beloved by Frances J. Roberts. It’s a really great book that is written as if God is sitting down and talking to you. If you’re looking for a good book to read, I very much recommend this one! Anyway, as I was reading it something I read just really struck me and stood out to me. In fact, I haven’t really been able to get it out of my mind since I read it. God keeps bringing it back to me to meditate on. So, I thought maybe He has something more to say about it and wants me to share it here with you guys.

Anyway, what I read that has resonated so powerfully in my heart is this: “My will is not a place, but a condition…” Wow! What struck me the most, I think, is that we often think that to be in God’s will we have to be in a certain place in life. Like there is somewhere that we should be at and there is something we should be doing in order to be in God’s will for our lives. I am not saying that isn’t true, but I am saying maybe we are looking at it from the wrong viewpoint. Maybe we don’t have to be in a certain place to be in God’s will…maybe it’s more about the condition of our hearts.

Are we fully surrendered to God? Do our hearts cry out, “God, whatever You want for my life is the only thing I want!?” I was given the opportunity to teach last night at my church and God gave me a word to speak on that really feels like the theme of my life lately. We learned about seeds. We learned how our lives are a lot like seeds. You see, seeds are packed with some amazing potential. Think about the giant Sequoia trees in the California. Those massive, beautiful trees all come from small seeds. But what does that seed have to do in order to become that beautiful tree? It has to die. It has to die before it’s full potential can be utilized. If that seed doesn’t die, what happens? Nothing…right? Nothing is produced from it. The massive potential that is packed inside it is wasted because it didn’t die. We too, must to die. We have to die to our dreams and desires to be fully utilized in God’s Kingdom.

Every single one of us is packed full of potential…potential that God placed in us before we were ever born! Jeremiah 1:5 says: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” Before we ever breathed our first breath on this earth, God thought about us and He placed in us every talent and gift we posses. He knew our exact divine destiny and purpose! So, if everyone is born with this kind of potential, then why do some people seem to operate in their divine destinies and purposes and some do not? I believe it is because a lot of us miss this dying process. We fight and fight to have control over our lives and do what we think is best. Come Away my Beloved also says this: “Many a ship has sailed from port to port with no interference by Me, because Strong Will has been at the wheel. Multitudes of pleasure cruises go merrily in their ways, untouched by the power of My hand…”

It is up to us if we surrender to God’s will for our lives. God doesn’t force us to choose Him and His way. We aren’t robots…we have free will and God allows us to use it. “My will is not a place, but a condition.” It’s the condition of our hearts. So, what is our choice? Will we choose surrender? Will we choose to allow God to get in the driver’s seat of our lives and take us where He has destined and purposed for us to be all along? Or will we continue to fight for control and ultimately live life unsatisfied because our full potential isn’t being utilized? If that seed doesn’t die, its life is ultimately wasted. We won’t get that apple tree we expected to get when we planted that seed. In the same way, if we refuse to die to ourselves and allow God to do what only God can do in our lives…aren’t our lives ultimately wasted? Not to say we won’t be important or that we won’t have any good in our lives…because we may still experience blessings and prosperity even if we don’t surrender. But have we really done what God destined for us to do? Did we reach the people the He wanted us to reach? Did God get the full potential out of us that He planned before we ever breathed our first breath? We are the only ones who answer those questions. We are the only ones who know whether we’ve been fighting for the control or if we are allowing God to move freely in our lives. I’m not saying death is easy. Dying to ourselves is so hard. Giving up that control is so hard…but it is also worth it when we know God is fully using us. When we know we are doing that which God designed and purposed us to do!

Like I said before, I feel like this has lately been the theme of my life; Dying to myself and what I want to see be done in my life and surrendering myself and life completely to God. It takes a lot of effort…it’s a daily thing…and some days it’s really hard. Right now our future has a lot of question marks that weren’t there a few months ago, but somehow in all of this dying, God’s given me His perfect peace. For once in my life I don’t know the next step, but this time is different…this time, fear doesn’t have a death grip on me. God has been so, so good to me and has given me the grace to say, “ok, God…I trust You. The future is unknown to me, but it’s fully known to You…and that’s enough. Take this whole situation and use it for Your divine destiny and purpose!” I don’t say that to “toot my own horn,” I say that because it is a testament of just how great our God is! He may not be illuminating our entire future before us, but He is faithfully showing us each step; He’s helping us to embrace this step by step process and teaching us how to truly trust Him. The dying process is not easy, but watching God show up and show out in your life makes all the hard worth it!