Feeling stuck really stinks. It just does. There’s no way around it.
And if we’re honest with ourselves, feeling stuck can be the result of when things don’t go according to plan – when we don’t feel like we have control.
Remember 2020? And even most of 2021? Life has pretty much felt like one big exercise of surrendering control of what we thought was going to happen. Whether that be in career plans, school, relationships – we’ve all had to sacrifice a lot.
I think it’s safe to say we’ve all learned how to ‘let go’ of what we had hoped for recently – but what now? How do we begin to dream again?
If you’re anything like me, I bet you still have some sort of idea that you can’t go a day without thinking about, that you feel God just keeps giving you those nudges about – and you wonder what it looks like to surrender perhaps in a different way. In a YES way.
“Surrender to me is embracing what is and accepting what is in order to affect what is. Accepting and embracing our reality so we can heal and grow and have impact.”
These were the words that Rebekah Lyons – bestselling author, podcast host and national speaker – said to me when I asked her what her definition of a ‘surrendered yes’ actually is.
That definition seems a lot more active that what it initially comes across as, doesn’t it?
In her new devotional, A Surrendered Yes: 52 Devotions to Let Go and Live Free, Rebekah offers readers 52 reflections that will move them from striving and fear into freedom, joy and rest.
The devotional was catalyzed by Rebekah and her husband saying yes to adopting a little girl, Joy, from China three years ago with a down syndrome diagnosis. Joy had been abandoned at four months at a police station, had lived five and a half years in an orphanage, and was still in diapers and formula when Rebekah brought her home. But when Rebekah felt that initial nudge from God, her first reaction was: ‘We’ve been married 20 years, our oldest is 17, we are too old for this! What is this going to cost me?’
And isn’t that so true of our response when we hear a nudge from God?
We ask Him, and ourselves, ‘What is this going to cost me?’
I believe there are three, main areas that keep us in that thought process and not going for those dreams we know that God placed in our hearts. The first being:
Fear of Failure.
When I asked Rebekah about this, when we have those thoughts of ‘What if this doesn’t work out? What if others ridicule me? What if I fail?’ She had such an insightful answer, she said:
‘Well, my question back would be: What if you do? What does that mean? What does that say about you? What does that say about God? I always play it out, right.’
And she’s right. What if that DID happen? What if less than stellar results were the outcome? Is it really as bad as we think? Is that worth the pain of regret of not going for it at all? Would you have learned something, grown from it, and become better for it?
Honestly, probably. Pain of failure is easier to digest than pain of regret.
Try to play out the situation the next time you feel you’re sidelining yourself before you even start. I bet you’ll be surprised to see what you experience on the other side – and maybe even find yourself giving God your next surrendered yes.
To hear the other two areas that keep us from giving a surrendered yes, be sure to check out my episode with Rebekah out today.
In this episode we also cover:
- What is means to surrender not only control, but the struggle as well
- Why you are NOT disqualified; even when that’s all you feel
- How to say yes even when it means to lay down heartbreaking things
After listening you will be equipped to:
- Challenge your mindset when you place yourself on the sidelines before you start
- Learn what exactly to embrace and accept to take your first step
- Live life with ease and peace rather than grabbing for control
If you’re ready to take action on that idea that you can’t go a day without thinking about, the one God just keeps giving you those nudges on, then don’t miss today’s episode!
More From This Episode:
Connect with Rebekah on Instagram and be sure to pick up her new book, ‘A Surrendered Yes: 52 Devotions To Let Go and Live Free’ wherever books are sold.’
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