As I was doing this, I kept having this memory of being "stuck" in a huge muddy drive with my dad and his pickup. I can still see myself standing there watching him struggle and wondering why he just didn't go get help from the guys across the road? The tires on his pickup getting even more stuck as he tried to back up and then step on it to make the truck go up and forward, out of the deep ruts of that mud. Instead of being able to move from point A to Point B, he only got himself in deeper, more stuck, more muddy. Sinking even further into the tracks. No amount of swearing, muscle, or rocking back and forth was going to get him out. Finally, he resorted to asking for help. A few more guys, a lot more muscle, and he was off to point B.
Our lives are made of many opportunities to move forward and connect the dots. We are constantly in a state of This is where I am now and this is where I want to go. We are living from dot-to-dot, and just like Olivia there are times we get stuck, not sure where to go with all the space in between the dots. Unsure of what the picture will be once all the dots have been connected, and oftentimes wanting to start over with a new page of dots because we hope that page of dots will be easier to connect, and we'll be happier with the picture, or the "outcome". All of us know where point A is and we know where point B is, but it is the journey from A to B where our spiritual growth and development happens. We make plans for getting from point A to point B. We are sure of that path. We know what to do and all the "steps" to make "the connection". We put all of our thought, our ideas, our actions, our timelines, and our methods for getting to point B. We pray about the connection over and over. We put all our muscle into that in-between space. We are sure that we can make the connection happen and arrive at the other side of point A. We can see ourselves at B. We can feel how happy we will be at that point. It has become our promised land. But for whatever reason, sometimes we are stuck somewhere in the space between the two points. We are spinning our wheels. We are trying everything we can think of to get out of that space. We think all the right thoughts. We are praying all the right prayers, but our wheels keep spinning and we are only getting deeper into the mud of me. The muddy ruts of my way. The sinking entrenchment of I have this all figured out God, and now I just need for you to make this particular thing happen and I'll be at B.
It is not a fun place to be. You've tried everything to make what you want to happen. Everything you can think of to get to point B has been done. You are out of ideas and tired of trying to get yourself to point B. And what is worse, you love point B so much, you have convinced yourself that you can't live without point B. It is point B or nothing. You find yourself clinging desperately to your vision of point B, and all the while you are clinging to point B, God is watching all of this and wondering, "Why doesn't she just ask for help?"
Good question. When we are just about to point B and nothing else is getting you there, it is time to surrender the situation completely into God's hands. When you are stuck in your mind about what it is you want and you are doing nothing but spinning your wheels and getting yourself into the ruts of deeper sadness, questioning why I am in this place and how am I going to get out of this place and where is God now? You have come to the point of surrendering and trusting in the best outcome for all concerned. It is simply time to ask for help. You have come to the point in the space between A and B where you turn to God and say This space is bigger than me and I want to panic. I have lost sight of the bigger picture, and I need you, God, to take the pencil and complete the picture for me. I need you, God, to put your hand on top of my hand and move the pencil to point B because I can't do it. I don't know how. I need you, God, to put your muscle behind the vehicle of my life and help me get out of this muddy pit. I may even need you to jump in the driver's seat so I can take my place on the other side and hold on so you can move me forward, upward, and onward onto a dry and clear path.
Surrendering may feel like giving up. It may feel like our last-ditch effort to get to point B. It may feel disheartening, maddening, and even depressing. It may feel like you are choosing to accept exactly what you didn't want to happen. But surrendering is something very different. Extremely different. When you find yourself empty of the next step, the next idea to try, or the next place to go for help that you can think of, you are at the very best place just before you arrive at point B. Surrendering is the greatest action you can take and it is how God brings to completion the good work He began in us. When we have come to the place of surrendering our lives to God, we have come to the space in between A and B where miracles are manifested. No one gets to point B without the grace of surrendering. No one gets to the promised land without calling forth the power of God to part the seas so we can walk on dry land safely, soundly, and securely to the other side. No one can arrive at B by their own strength. It takes the power of God to move the mountain, calm the storm, feed the thousands, and lead us home. Surrendering is the plan of action. Surrendering is not giving up... it is rising up! Anyone who has had to make the decision to take someone off of life support, knows what surrendering their lives to God means. We cannot support our own lives by our own strength. Sooner or later, when we are trying to get to point B, we have to pull our own life support and let God support us, let God breathe for us, let the most powerful Force of Life flow through us. Surrendering is not giving up a dream, or what we love, it is allowing God to create an even more magnificent dream, a more brilliant version of what we had pictured in our mind. Surrendering is spiritual magic. Surrendering is the place where thunder and lightening collide and what we long for floods the fields of our lives. It is a place of quiet and steady strength. It is a place of mental rest and spiritual action. It is awakening the Giant Within. It is Goliath-type believing and lion-den strength. It is the final step in the act of co-creating. It is the space we must let God fill before we can be made ready to receive the miracle. It is that place on the spiritual journey where our weakest efforts will showcase God's power and might. Surrendering is the belief in us that God is for us and everything I've tried has worked against us. Surrendering makes the impossible possible, and ushers in exactly what we needed into the visible world what we have held so long in our minds and hearts.
The action of surrendering says to God, I believe that everyone serves a dual purpose. There is the physical roles we play here on earth of spouse, friend, teacher, banker, parent, etc. and then there is the spiritual role we are. It is this role of everyone's spirit learning to love, heal, forgive, and grow that is invisible to us. Everyone is not just a human being, but a spiritual being that has a spiritual agenda that is being played out in the various roles of being human, and that is the part we are not always made privy to and that is also the part that requires a large trust that God is most concerned with... working out everyone's ability to love deeper and heal thoroughly of all hurt. The logic of spirit is where we get stuck. It is that space in between A and B that we have no control of. So what seems to be hugely unfair for us human beings is completely fair, just, and perfect to the spiritual beings that we are first and foremost. And that is precisely what we are asked to surrender to. Surrendering is saying YES! to the invisible activity of God. We are trusting in the behind-the-scenes activity that God is orchestrating. When we bow to the invisible activity of God, then the visible part of our lives is worked out as well. Only the love of God could orchestrate, integrate, calculate, generate, and merge the visible world with the invisible. Mary, mother of Jesus, understood this at her core. Her response of Let it be done to me invoked the power of God to perform miracles for generations to come. Her response still affects our lives today and will for future generations. Our response of Let it be done to me unleashes the promise of more miracles to come. Knowledge of this is our silver treasure. Learning to surrender, we gain all knowledge, wisdom, and insight we need to understand what God is doing. It is the hidden treasure that God will reveal when we ask for insight and wisdom into the behind the scenes action of Spirit.
All of our lives are spent trying to connect dots and getting unstuck, and when you are in the place of asking God, Where the hec are you? You have arrived again! You have arrived exactly where you need to be and God is just waiting for you to say Not my ways, but your ways, God. Not my plans, but your plans, God. Not my ideas, but your ideas, God. Not my blueprint, but your blueprint, God. Not my action, but your action. All we have to do is trust. All we have to do is smile and even laugh. All we have to do is.. Watch. Expect. Wait. Receive.. and say thank you, God. I couldn't have done it without you.
When we surrender we are believing in the plans that God has for us. Plans to prosper us, not to harm us. Plans to give us hope and a future. We will turn to God, pray to God, and He will listen to every one of us.
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