I once believed that God saw more of my failures in a day than anything else I did. I believed this because I knew that if I ever received some version of a punishment, then it was well-deserved. I counted my failures versus my blessings. Whether it was a small or a large consequence, I’d look up and say, “I knew that was coming.

But, what if that’s the completely wrong way to think about God? What if I changed my tiny, fleshly mindset about the way I view consequences? What if God doesn’t work based on our moments of failure, but off our moments of surrender?

Grace In Action

When God focuses on the times when we surrender to Him, it’s grace in action. We’re never receiving the punishment we ought to receive, which is death, because of the willingness of Christ and the sacrifice of God. We can walk freely without condemnation, yet so many of us still feel dirty, slightly filled, a little joyous, without hope and somewhat wandering. Why is that? Why can’t we just seem to get it, or just be the “person God wants us to be” already? Will that ever happen?

I think it’s so vital that we first change our mindset of our God. He’s not a willing and happy punisher. He desires to only lavish His love on us, but we know deep down that he chastens those He calls his own (Hebrews 12:6). In fact, He hates sin so much and loves us so much that He sent His son to die for it. He covered us all in His grace, mercy and truth. He wrapped us all in this beautiful, unstoppable light.

God’s Unfathomable Ways

We need to have faith that God does not work like we do, and that His ways are unfathomable. This will help us put our lives into a heavenly perspective. Once we realize that God works not around our moments of failure, but our moments of surrender, we can walk in a holy freedom and a new light. It’s the light of hope. We just need to open our hands.

“Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear.”  —Job 11:13-15

The Chance To Walk Freely

We can have this hope securely, too. It doesn’t have to be fleeting. We can be restored. God isn’t delighting in your pain; He’s hurting with you. God isn’t laughing at your mistakes; He’s picking you up, whispering for you to fight against your flesh. He’s washing you every day; just because we can’t tangibly feel Him, it doesn’t neglect that He daily pours out His holy living water within us. He desires for us to walk freely, to know our purpose, to know our identity. He also desires that we choose to come to Him daily, and not just when it’s convenient.

That is what surrender looks like; to daily lift your life into His hands with the utterance of your lips and the action in your heart; to know we don’t belong to ourselves, but to the will of our Father. God sees our surrender, and delights in gathering all of who we are into His hands for his glorious purpose. The beautiful truth is that we will all be home one day, and we’ll realize just how much God worked His wonders when we simply surrendered.

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”  —Philippians 2:13

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