“The essence of spirituality is contained in this phrase: complete and utter abandonment to the will of God.” Jean-Pierre De Caussade
Can I be honest with you today? I’m not there yet. I want to be. I REALLY desire to be there. But I’m not there yet.
What’s standing in my way? In a word: Fear
What’s keeping you from complete and utter abandonment?
Amen. Fear and a fierce desire for my own comfort and pleasure.
Self. That’s what gets in my way. I constantly battle letting go and letting HIM be God. But today again I commit to His will.
Amen. Struggle with the same thing.
comfort
Fear and lack of trust in God.
Definitely it’s the fear of the loss of control. We all know (at least most of us do) that God only wants the best for us in everything. But knowing that is entirely different from believing it enough to completely give up control and let Him do His complete work in us. Our flesh will fight us every step of the way.
Me, too, Jason!
Fear and control which seem to be the same thing, would be the easy answer for me. The more honest answer would be laziness, I do not put in the time and effort, I do not do my part.
I’m with you on that one – FEAR. I “know” i can trust God but i Fear if i completely and utterly abandonment myself to God that I will lose control. Maybe that is the heart of it, i fear loss of control… Now you got me thinking
I think it’s always this weird argument that crosses my mind like “oh, you should fix this because that’s why God gave us free will and common sense” or the question of “did God bring this knowledge to me so that I could fix it.”
I have this strange feeling I misunderstood the question….
Selfishness. Too much of my own plans having to be sacrificed to His – always happy when I do. Always irritated when asked.
What’s standing in my way, fear and not comprehending what love is……..
Just saw a clip from Katie Davis, all I can say is wow, that’s a example of courage and faith and what love looks like from downhere.What an inspiration!
Thanks for the reminder to face my fear of failure. I haven’t meet a person that didn’t have fear. Fear is a driving force that keeps us from becoming who God wants us to be. The great idea comes, I think about it for awhile. Fear of failure sets in, and I do nothing. I have had at least 10 ideas worthy of a patent. How many patents do I have? 0
Fear
Trust
Discouragement
What stands in my way? Self
fear. and my fear of showing that i AM terrified when everyone around me see’s me as one with no fears. and also my HIGE desire to control that which i cannot; and really just control everything.
Like you, fear.
Fear, seems to be a common one on here today.
Comfort and fear, which really comes down to too small a view of God.
Lack of understanding and comprehension of how to do this.
I think one of the greatest failures of the church is in teaching the “HOW” of living a life of faith (I don’t mean a set of steps and requirements).
An inability (wait, that’s an excuse)…
An unwillingness to re-order my life in the manner required to gain the daily infusion of strength needed to maintain a fully-yielded life.
Fear and pride.
Pride is another real issue of mine.
Is it possible that our fear of abandonment to God’s will begins with the possibly-faulty assumption that we are not currently living according to it? Maybe abandonment to God’s will is something that isn’t as much an action as it is realization. I can’t even begin to imagine how God operates in eternity, knowing the future and and having a will and a plan that already takes into account every action that we are going to take in the future. What if God’s will isn’t something to be so much pursued, as it is to be rested in? If that is true, than abandonment may simply be recognizing that you aren’t the one in control of your destiny, that nothing you do, or don’t do, is going to surprise Him and that “…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion…”
You bet PJ. I think you’re on to something.
I realized this during the “trying vs training” sermon at Crosspoint a few weeks ago. I felt that overwhelming grace for the first time, even though I’ve been a Christian for about 8 years, I realized for the first time I could rest in God instead of having to earn his love or erase my own guilt with works or church attendance. I was trying to live the “truth” without grace– thanks to Monvee for helping me realize this….
I constantly struggle with this myself..
1 Thessalonians 5:19
Shave your head and go for it Pete! (that will definitely get some attention)
It only takes a spark to start a wildfire. I would hope there is a lot of dry timber out there waiting for that spark.
for His Glory!!!
I’m not shaving me head anytime soon.