I grew up in a can-do family. We all knew what was expected of us and we tried our best to do it. Perseverance was my Dad’s favorite word and he instilled this in each of his three daughters.
As a Christian, I learned that this can-do quality can be great, but also could cause me to go off on my own path, depending on myself alone. Scripture calls this being led by the flesh verses the spirit.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:18)
But God…
Got a hold of my life and taught me that there is a better way; surrendering to Him. I discovered Paul’s words and my life took a turn from doing all things my way to doing things God’s way.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)
Suddenly a new way of living opened up– one in which I did not feel burdened or stressed; one in which I felt peace and joy. Knowing that it was Christ who strengthens me to do a job, work through a difficult relationship, or carry a burden for someone was huge. As I began to lean on Christ, He began to show me a different way to live.
I was believing God for a few things; things that I could control. He began to show me that I needed to believe Him for everything. As a result, each morning I began to surrender my day and the Lord would show me what I needed to do and how to do it. In a practical way here is what I learned to do and hopefully it will help you too.
Think about an imaginary line. On one side of the line is me standing in faith and believing that God is with me, but not challenging myself to move from this place. Fear, unbelief, and even my old can-do habits standing with me. As I give the Lord my day, He asks me to step over the boundary line from what I struggle believing, to what I am willing to believe God for and how He will strengthen me as I walk it out. I step over the boundary of unbelief and into the challenge of Paul’s words:
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me….
Are you with me still? We all have a choice to make daily to believe God for more. Our faith muscles must become stronger.
Recently, I went to the Physical Therapist for my hand and he started me with light weights. Little by little he increased the weight and I was amazed at how much stronger I became in a short period of time.
When we step over our unbelief and into the challenge of believing God to strengthen us. He gives us power on the other side. He makes our faith muscles stronger and in turn, each new challenge that we are faced with, we see God move.
Think about it this way. If you stay on the this-is-all-I-am-willing-to believe side, you will never grow or experience God’s power in areas of your life that seem impossible.
So let’s do it. Together let’s commit to taking a deep breath and crossing over into trusting God for more. What is it you need to trust Him for today? I’ll join you in crossing over.
