surrendered & attached.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me," (John 15: 1-4)
Whenever I feel that my world is a little shaky, I tend to lean towards control.
Control over the big things.
Control over the small things.
Trying to control what people think of me.
Trying to control other people's lives.
Even trying to control my relationship with God.
Over this past week, I've realized that (for me) control is a false sense of stability; an illusion of that helps me to cope when I feel like nothing is going "my way." Truth is, I never wanted to address that small seed of fear from possibly being disappointed by fully going "all-in" with God again. Someone once told me that: Pride is the fear that man, or God, will make a fool out of you. But let me tell you just how merciful, loving, patient, and faithful He is. As I started praying for God to remind me of things forgotten, I slowly (and I do mean SLOWLY. The struggle has been REALLY real!) relinquished control. I found that 1. He exceeded every need I had, and 2. He started healing my heart & restoring my memories. He reminded me of what was real during those seasons, and where I was offended. After a few days, I realized how much I actually missed the adventure of going "all-in": I missed the adventure of walking with Him, and Him revealing something new to me. I missed "doing vision" with God, and praying about the next step. I even missed the harder times that pulled me closer to Him. He reminded me that (because sometimes we don't need another lesson in an area, we just need to be reminded of what's already been taught) that a man on his face cannot trip and fall.
"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom." (Proverbs 11:2)
"One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor." (Proverbs 29: 23)
"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)
ALL He requires is that we stay connected. The branch's only job is to hold the fruit that was labored through the Vine.
We take what would benefit us, and we surrender it to God. We take our motives and what WE need and place them aside for the sake of staying attached.
We learn to live surrendered to the Vine while remaining attached to the Vine.
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you," (1 Peter 5: 10, ESV)
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Two AWESOME teachings I watched this week: Relinquishing the Myth of Control by Pastor Touré Roberts of One Church LA
What Goes Up Must Come Down by Pastor Dustin Stradley of Elevation Church (SO good! I've watched this one a million times!)