Tryless

Today God is teaching me the importance of knowing Him as He is. He's showing me that He wants me to let go of my expectations of [and for] myself and to trust Him with everything.

Yesterday He gave me the word "try" to chew on. I thought about the fact that when I "try", I am setting myself up for failure because I am doing something (whatever it is) by my own power. "Trying" is essentially using my effort to accomplish something by means that I've determined to be worthy of my effort. <--see that sentence? It's filled with "I's" and "my's" -ick! I have to find a way to weed those out of my thought life- nothing is mine- it's ALL God's. (i.e. It's not "my" time, stuff, people, etc...)

I was thinking that the opposite of try (which is "not try" = "surrender") is what we should actually do when we want to attain something. SURRENDER, LISTEN & RESPOND. That's what I have to do. Not TRY.   

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Another thing God is talking to me about today is that the story of Abraham (where he is asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac) is totally relevant RIGHT NOW! I deduced that I too need to be willing to sacrifice my greatest love(s) and to put whatever it is (plans, people, things, addictions, worries, fears, etc.) on the altar.  I can trust Him to take it all because of who God is.

Hmmm... Now that I'm writing this out, I see there are two outcomes for someone who puts something on the proverbial "altar". Either (a.) the things we sacrifice are burnt up, never to return again (because they are idols that will ultimately and always steal our allegiance to God) OR (b.) God provides a way out.  --> In ole' Abe's story (Genesis 22:1-18, Hebrews 11:17-19) we learn that as he was preparing to sacrifice his son on the altar, Abraham tries to wrap his head/heart around what God has asked him to do. After much struggle, Abraham's conscience (human nature) rested on the decision to trust God to provide a way out (whether it was bringing Isaac back from the dead (which is what Abraham's human mind reasoned) or a ram in the bush (which is what God provided)).

Long story short - Abraham loved Isaac with every fiber of his being and as such, his son became an idol which stole a piece of Abraham's allegiance to God. But God, because of His great faithfulness, love, and justice, gave Abraham the opportunity to break the stronghold and surrender his idol- his son- to Him. And I need to do the same with my stuff...with anything that means so much to me that it hurts (my plans, my reputation, my future/goals).  Our Just and Loving God has already shown me the blessings that He has for me (a storehouse of everything that is good and fulfilling) and He has already paid for it (Jesus), all I have to do is be WILLING to SURRENDER ALL.

WHAAAAAT? So simple, yet my little human brain spits out a receipt tape saying "does not compute" and I read it and believe it. Baaaaah. <--- my stupid sheep sound. :)

Thanks for bearing with me as I learn this stuff and learn to communicate it. I just TRIED waaaaaaay too hard to try to explain that- to make it make sense in words. Maybe I should just trust it to make sense in my heart and then go on about my business?? I don't know. Hm. Yeah. --> I think maybe I should keep trying to muddle through explaining what God is teaching me because even though it's hard, I think it solidifies my thoughts and it's good for me to put them out there for you to read and respond to.

What is God talking to YOU about today?
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