On My Side: A 7 Day Devotional by Kim Walker-Smith - Day 1 Brave Surrender

DAY ONE:  Brave Surrender

Hosea 2:14-15 Therefore I am now going to allure her;  I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.  There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor (trouble) a door of hope.

So many times in my life I have felt myself drift into a season that I would call a “desert season”.  It’s the time when I feel like I can’t see God or hear Him or feel Him.  In these moments I start scrambling to figure out where I went wrong or what I need to fix.  I start trying to make things just perfect inside me all the while I can feel God asking me to surrender.  Surrendering is really easy when you feel like you are at the end of your rope and have no other options.  But what about when you feel strong?  What about when you can come up with an excuse and reason for every single thing happening in your life?  What about when you are relying on your own strength and trying to pull yourself through the season?  The beautiful thing about this verse is how it reveals that God is the one who brings us into the desert season.  It is not a mistake or a fluke that we end up there.  He is extending an invitation to surrender to Him and to this season and come into a new place of intimacy with Him.  The way He spoke to you is not the way He wants to speak now.  He wants to connect in a new way.  Surrender to Him and to the season He has you in.  Be brave and courageous, willing to lay down your pride and strength.  Rely on His strength and trust Him to lead you into deeper places of intimacy with Him.

Brave Surrender

Kim Walker-Smith (On My Side)

Keys: E, F

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