Most of the lessons I’ve learned in life I’ve learned from failure. If you’re willing to learn from your failures, you increase your odds of succeeding.
One area you can’t afford to fail in is your walk with God. If you get stuck there, everything else is downhill. The great news is that you really have more of a say in moving forward with God than you may have thought.
What I’d like to do is share with you one thing I’ve learned that has helped me move forward with God — and, therefore, it’s helped me in every area of my life.
Resistance to God is worse than an uphill battle. It’s an attempt to defeat the One who has never been defeated.
In earthly combat, the army that surrendered is the one that loses. But when it comes to moving forward with God, until we surrender to Him we’ll keep on losing.
You may not think you’re losing much in life, but success in life is really a relative thing. The real question is whether or not you are allowing something to come between God and you. If you are, you’re missing His best — and your best, too. You have a huge say in whether or not you will let that trend continue.
Do you want God’s best, or do you want to settle for far less? This is where surrender comes into play.
No one who truly surrenders to God will ever live to regret it.
Read that last sentence again, out loud, and let it sink in — deeply. Listen as you read it. That understanding has saved my bacon numerous times when I had a choice to make. I bet I’m just like you in many ways — including my tendency to trust myself when I should only be trusting God.
James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 say the same thing: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
I don’t know about you, but I want as much of God’s grace poured out on my life as possible. These verses teach us that we absolutely do have a say in how much of God’s undeserved favor (grace) we can experience. Pride, therefore, is the arch enemy of not everything I want to accomplish in my life, but more importantly everything God wants to accomplish.
The most foolish thing I could ever do is allow something to be unresolved between God and me. I’ve come to realize that pride is usually very subtle. I must, therefore, watch for it very closely — and pull it up from the roots.
The number one way pride manifests itself is in how we think about and interact with people. I’ve learned this from personal experience.
Here, for example, are some powerful questions I’ve learned to ask myself to help me make sure I’m not unconsciously resisting God and being prideful:
- Have my words created division or unity?
- Do I say things behind the backs of other people that would upset or shock them if they were to find out? In other words, am I “two-faced”?
- Am I in any way defeated or stuck? If so, is it because I have not done something I should have done, or done something I should not have done?
- Do my relationships with people truly reflect a love for God?
- Do I seek to control situations or people, or do I seek to encourage people and embrace them as they are, looking for ways to be an encouragement?
- Could it be that the reason I’m stuck is because I am, in some area of my life, resisting God?
Surrender to God and leave the results to Him. Resistance to God is an exercise in futility. Surrender is what will move you ahead — not only with God, but in every area of life.
We’re not alone. We’re in this together.
Are you in any way resisting God? Why resist him any further? After all, no one who has ever resisted God has ever come out a winner.
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Most of the lessons I’ve learned in life I’ve learned through failure. I typically publish my blogs Tuesday through Friday, here and on Facebook. We welcome and read comments from readers just like you because they help us (and others) think and grow. Don’t be shy. Chime in.
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