We may know the hymn I Surrender All and proudly sing it in church on Sunday. But do we really want to surrender all, or are there areas of our lives we are hesitant to release to God?
Everyone believes life is a blank journal waiting to be filled with the culmination of dreams; instead, we deal with disappointments when the pages of our lives don’t mirror those dreams. But we were not born with a blank journal in our hands. Life leads us into the wilderness, and we wonder if we will find our way back to Eden, or how to move forward toward the promised land.
Who am I? Does God see me? Does God love me? What is my purpose? So much is tied up in our longing to know who we are: our worth, whether we’re loved, what we’re meant to do with our lives. But there’s a powerful truth that settles every question: God has named us, and the names he has spoken over us settle every question and pain we have experienced in our search for identity.
The older we get, the less we find ourselves spending time in the company of good friends. Organic friendship becomes nearly impossible—after all, there are all sorts of obligations tugging at our attention. Or we find ourselves getting frustrated with shallow, draining conversations. Or, most painful of all, we feel like no one wants us—and who wants to be rejected?
Life is just . . . a lot. Relationships are hard. Responsibilities are piled high. And it seems like all the things are distracting you from the very best things of all. There’s little time left for yourself–or for connecting with Jesus. No wonder you feel anxious in your mind and hurried in your heart. You desperately long for calm amidst your clamoring duties, stacked schedule, and life’s unexpected circumstances. But where do you begin?