hands off...

Yesterday afternoon I was thinking about all that I have to do before our Disney vacation.  I made a list and called Disney to make sure I had everything taken care of. She laughed and said “ma’am you made all these arrangements back in March, come down here and enjoy your vacation”.  I laughed and as I got off the phone I thought to myself how I daily make “to do” list and when I don’t complete it I end up frustrated and have an even longer list for the following day. I realized that we set ourselves up for unrealistic expectations.  We have our own agendas in place every day rather than listening to the heart of our Creator.   He holds each day in His hands and He doesn’t need our help shaping our days.   God wants nothing more than for us to walk in victory and yet our perspective of victory is often living in bliss.  Victory is overcoming something, defeating something and walking away often tired, beat down and almost to the point of giving up.  God shines in those moments because His power is made known in our weakest moments. When we have NOTHING else to give He gives us exactly what we need to walk away victoriously.  I am reminded of a Psalm this morning .

Psalm 28:1-2

    Lord, I call to You; my rock, do not be deaf to me. If You remain silent to me, I will be like those going down to the pit. Listen to the sound of my pleading when I cry to You for help, when I LIFT MY HANDS towards Your holy sanctuary.

We have all found ourselves at some point just like David asking God to do something in what seems like a desperate situation.  My favorite part about this Psalm is the beautiful picture of total surrender. “WHEN I LIFT MY HANDS”…. What a beautiful picture of saying God I can no longer do this on my own.   When soldiers surrender they take their hands off of their weapons and walk with hands held high saying we surrender.  In our lives we have our hands in everything trying to accomplish daily task, to trying to please God or trying to overcome something.  We can do so many things and still miss God’s voice. We can find comfort through food, shopping, addictions or our busy schedules and still miss God’s voice.  We can’t see God’s hand at work in our lives if we are busy using our own.  To do list aren’t wrong in fact I love to make list. I have chore list, what I need to pack list, school supply list and a work list, oh and a church list. I mean I love to write list.  The funny part is that those list daily go unfinished and what I am learning is that in the midst of all the “to do’s “ God just wants my heart fully positioned with my hands held high walking in surrender as He shapes my dreams, molds my future and relentlessly pursues my heart without any expectations. He simply wants ME.

Holly