One of my favorite verses reminds me that God cares about me and has my best interests at heart: “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jer. 29:11).
Being assured of God’s love for me enables me to trust Him with the outcome of my prayers and accept whatever He chooses for me. Understanding that God knows what’s best for me frees me up to pray, just as Jesus did, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
Once I’ve accepted God’s will, I can begin to submit to His plan, allowing Him to mold me into the person He meant me to be when He created me. Submitting to Him involves recognizing that His plans for me are superior to my own: “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Is. 55:8).
As I submit to His plan, I can begin to relinquish more and more control over my life and surrender to God’s sovereignty. Surrendering to my loving Father allows me to set aside all my fears and anxieties and live by faith, just as Paul encouraged us to do in his letter to the Romans: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom. 12:1-2).
It all comes full circle: Accepting God’s will allows me to submit to His plan; submitting to His plan enables me to surrender to His sovereignty; and when I surrender completely by offering my life as a holy sacrifice, I am able to “test and approve” His perfect will for me. But this process rarely happens all at once. For me, it often feels like I’ve taken two steps forward and one step back. One day I think I’ve got this surrender thing down, but the next day I take back from God what I like to think of as “control” over my life.
Do you struggle with that too? We at Just Between Us (JBU) want to help you “test and approve” God’s “good, pleasing and perfect will” for your life. Many of the articles published in our magazine and on this website offer insight into accepting His will, submitting to His plan and surrendering to His sovereignty, allowing you to live by faith more and more each day.
