As I pulled the weeds away from the beautiful rose bush’s base, I noticed the root ball had four sections. I wondered if I should leave them together or divide and place each section at different posts across the fence…
Just like the uprooting of my rose bush, some of my life’s leaves wilted, petals fell to the ground and a few of my branches produced more thorns than blossoms – at least for a while. God was pruning my ministry and my life, teaching me how to surrender my plans for His.
It was hard. But God was doing a new thing and allowing me to perceive it. (Is.43:19) That was five years ago and I can say without a doubt that I wouldn’t be the woman I am today if He had not uprooted me and planted me in a new place, with new dreams.
It’s easy to doubt God, ourselves and our futures when our lives feel uprooted and our dreams fall apart. For years, I had allowed pain in my past to hinder me from trusting God with my future. I allowed insecurities and fears to keep me from living in the assurance of His promises and the confidence of His love.
The only way I could surrender my former soil was to get rooted in God’s love. So I spent time with Jesus. He was all I had. Each time I wanted to cry or run, I took the broken pieces of my heart and my will and gave them to Him. I was honest with Him about how I felt. How disappointed I was. How mad I was. How hurt I was. How scared I was.
Each day I would ask Him to show me how to process my pain or my questions through His truth. How to rely on Him. How to embrace what He was doing so that I would become more like Him. I remember reading, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. “(Philippians 2:5-7)
As I asked Him to help me understand, I began to see How God could reveal more of Himself through me as I depended more on Him. Eventually those around me would enjoy the new blossoms that were produced through my surrender..
I read through the book of John, journaling each time I noticed Jesus laying down His comforts, His familiar places and people, His rights, His life – to bring glory to His Father. And each time I would let go a little more.
It taught me absolute dependence on God like I had never known and changed me from the inside out. I came to new place of trusting Him and experiencing His glory in my life and in my family. Even now we are living out the lesson of the rose bush as we make room for a new “planting of the Lord” in our lives. I invite you to read through my posts last week and see our little crown of beauty: a display of His glory revealed through a little girl who’s becoming part of our story!
What is God asking you to surrender? I’d love to know so I can pray for you! And if you’d like a chance to win a copy of my “Beyond the Shadow of Doubt” message on DVD, be sure to click on the word “comments” just below my name, then type in the white box. If you don’t have a blog, just click anonymous. It’d be fun to know your first name, age and city (& email address so I can let you know if you win)!
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Letting go of the past and trusting God to use who I am right now is a hard thing to do. It is so easy to let the past cripple me instead of allow me to become closer to God.
For the drawing I am Brenda, 39 years old; live in New Market, AL; and my email address is [email protected].
So much of what you share encourages me to press on as I see that I am not alone in my struggles.
Congratulations on your baby!
Renee, Thank you for your precious words on surrender. I am struggling greatly right now. I amm a Christian school teacher in a public school. A mission field I have been called to and served in for 25 years. This year my world has been turned upside down. My building closed, my Christian principal retired, my best friend moved to a different school, and I have been reassigned to teach science as well as social studies. I have always found it so easy to witness to my kids through history and people I am wary of the issues surrounding teaching science in a public school. I had prayed and prayed for a different position – one that was perfect for me. God shut the doors repeatedly on that idea even though the temptation of seeing what I thought was the perfect solution continued to be set in front of me. Now it's early morning on the last weekend before school starts. For the 26th time I have the preschool jitters and can't sleep. I am trying so hard to convince my head what my heart knows. My heart knows that God has plans to prosper me. My heart knows that I have been placed where I am for such a time as this. My heart knows that my life is God's to do with as he pleases. BUT … My head can't wrap around it. My head is angry and hurt and bitter. My head wants to let the hurtful voices flow instead of the voices of comfort and confidence. Please pray for me that God will guard my toungue and my thoughts. And that I can take on the attitude of Christ. It feels like too tall an order right now.
Shelley
Renee, Thank you for your precious words on surrender. I am struggling greatly right now. I amm a Christian school teacher in a public school. A mission field I have been called to and served in for 25 years. This year my world has been turned upside down. My building closed, my Christian principal retired, my best friend moved to a different school, and I have been reassigned to teach science as well as social studies. I have always found it so easy to witness to my kids through history and people I am wary of the issues surrounding teaching science in a public school. I had prayed and prayed for a different position – one that was perfect for me. God shut the doors repeatedly on that idea even though the temptation of seeing what I thought was the perfect solution continued to be set in front of me. Now it's early morning on the last weekend before school starts. For the 26th time I have the preschool jitters and can't sleep. I am trying so hard to convince my head what my heart knows. My heart knows that God has plans to prosper me. My heart knows that I have been placed where I am for such a time as this. My heart knows that my life is God's to do with as he pleases. BUT … My head can't wrap around it. My head is angry and hurt and bitter. My head wants to let the hurtful voices flow instead of the voices of comfort and confidence. Please pray for me that God will guard my toungue and my thoughts. And that I can take on the attitude of Christ. It feels like too tall an order right now.
Shelley
Hi Renee,
Todays devotion was so touching to me. I am going through a change, and I faced a disappointment last night and I too have to carry on my ministry with-out two very strong women who have supported me through the beginning. I am scared. I even woke this morning thinking…I don't want to go tonight? My Husband and I have a Christian band, and our church has been a great support and tonight our 2 greatest cheer leaders can't come, nor anyone else…to far to travel. I know God is preparing me for the future…sometimes it's so hard to just trust and know what he has planned will be so much greater than what I was hoping for.
thank you for your inspiration!
May God Bless you and your family,
Candy
Hiram Me
[email protected]
OK, I cannot help myself but to share this bit of wisdom. My mother always says, "A rose grows because it has dirt, gets water and sunshine and needs to be pruned once in a while. But it smells even sweeter after a bunch of crap has been piled on it."
I always remember that when I am going through my own time of fertilization. Even though I may experience things that are not very pleasant at the time, I know how much I will benefit in the future if I wade through- well, the crap. Hope this makes you giggle a little and I really enjoyed the blog post today!
Hugs all around-
Charlie
Hi, Renee,
Your article really spoke to my heart. I just got divorced and am trying to rebuild my life again. I need to surrender all my plans and hopes for the future and allow God to manifest His plans for me – because I know He is a good God and His will is always good, acceptable, and perfect. God bless you :))
I am asking for prayer as god places me in greener pasture. This exspirance has been something I have never had the boldness to do before, but now. God has done the unthink able through me. That is give me a voice to share the love of god. It is humbling for me, and scary. But I am going to be ok about it all.
I'm still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be learning of late … maybe to stop depending on my own plans and rejoice in the fact that God has the reins in my life? That I don't have to know the whys and hows of our journey together??
Your Aster is adorable!!
Amy
Roxboro, NC
This was so perfect for today! We are surrendering our "dream house" to God and possibly downsizing by at least 60%.
We felt the tug on our heart last year to put our house on the market but didn't have our priorities straight. Now we are holding on to God as we go on the greatest adventure of our lives. We are looking forward to the blessings He has in store for us as we surrender to His will for our lives.
It's been tough getting rid of our stuff but we keep trying to remember it's just STUFF. It will never fill that void of not being in the Lord's will.
Thank you for your great posts. Looking forward to seeing more pics of your beautiful bundle of joy!
[email protected]
Renee,
Life feels so hard, it's nice to hear others going through things also, it helps me not feel so alone. My husband who(a PhD candidate)has been looking for a job for over six months, our family (three kids) is living in the basement of a friends house (we need to leave there in two weeks), and we're surrendering our dream of living in the town we believed God told us to go to. What does He have for us now if we really didn't hear His voice to come here? I've cried and cried tonight feeling so alone, so abandoned and rejected. We need to find somewhere else to live, which will most likely mean moving to another city with family, and that city is just not our "dream". So we could really use prayer. I've drawn on His strength and learned a ton about dependency but I'm weary…
Thanks for sharing your life through the devotional today. I needed it..
[email protected]
I definitely needed to read this today. I have been so confused and overwhelmed and I know I just need to surrender COMPLETELY not just what I am comfortable surrendering. Thank you!
Irene B., 28
NC
Your message was something I needed to hear. Like many that posted I too struggle with what I am suppose to be doing with my life. The pain and depression of it overwhelms me so much at times. I need peace on this journey.
Angela, 42
Houston
[email protected]
I think I have spent the last few years being pruned for a friendship that I am in now. It has been a journet getting here thus far.
There are tons more. I am trying to be open to His change!
Shannon
Renee,
Thank you for sharing the devotional today. God has certainly been pruning me over the last several months. I have felt his calling and turned my life over to him. He has removed me from friendships in order to prepare me for a new direction. I am excited and fearful all at the same time. Thank you for giving me the encouragement I needed. God gives me exactly what I need each day.
Have a blessed day.
Mary, 35, South Carolina
[email protected]
Hello Renee,
I feel like most of my time as a married woman, we've been struggling with finances and as soon as a job looks promising, they change the payscale or something of that nature.
I feel as though I keep begging God to set us free from this hold our bills have over us each and every day, we have gone to the bare minimum in our budget and it's still rarely enough.
I surrender to the promise that God gave me in Jeremiah, that His plans are not for us to be harmed but for us to prosper and have a future filled with hope. I have seen amazing miracles from people we don't even know, but I just don't know what else there is for me to surrender to Him. It's a daily struggle in my mind and in my heart.
If you could pray for our situation to finally improve and for us to do more than sigh (and cry in my case) every time pay day comes and we rarely have enough to make until the next one. I just pray that we can do better, that a better job comes along…one where my husband can feel connected to good people and one for me that will work around his schedule so the kids won't be affected.
I know my story is not rare in these times, I just feel at the end of my emotional rope as more medical needs keep coming up for me and there's no money to get the care I need.
I thank you for any moment of prayer in our names, Renee.
May God bless you,
Nicole, 31, Kansas
Hi Renee,
Thank you so much. You have helped me more than you will ever know.God wants me to give up doubt,unbelieve.He wants me to surrender all.And I have been struggling with this for awhile.
Thank you again and please continue to share with us.
Hi Renee,
Could you please pray for me?
I have had a tough year with my
brother dying at 42. I truly feel
God's presence in my life however
I feel I am out on a limb. My whole
personality seems to have changed-
don't even like what I got my Masters degree in! Eek!
Not sure where to go from here…to
find myself whoever I am.
I know God is transforming me but into what and when will I feel like I am here? Thanks for your prayers!
Thanks for the devotion on the rose
bush.
DP
wow – surrender is such a hard thing. i used to think i was okay with it, but then i find myself trying to be in control again. right now God is wanting me to surrender my future. after almost 10 years of marriage and going on 3 as a widow, i still think i can plan and decide and know exactly how things should happen. and i can plan, and i can make decisions, God has given those tasks to me, but i have to do it prayerfully and carefully listening for His voice admist the chaos in my head. in this last couple of years, i have discovered just how fickle my little human mind can be as i react to different situations. thank you so much for this reminder that we sometimes have to be uprooted and planted again in fresh soil!
Renee:
What a heart-felt devotional today. It struck a heart chord. The Lord has been "pruning" me for the past 18 months – cutting away dead, dying or decaying parts of my life. At first, I was resistent – well, there are times I am defiant, like a child throwing a fit. However, once I calm down, and remember that one rotting berry in the bowl will spoil the whole batch (to mix metaphors), I am thankful for the work that the Lord is doing. I can't say that it is always easy or comfortable – I've had to endure the desolution of my 7-year marriage (because of my ex's sexual abuse of my teenage daughter), a second brain tumor, the loss of my house to foreclosure, near eviction due to financial difficulties, having to live with my 2 children in hiding because of death threats by my ex, plus just the usual ups and downs of being a full-time working single mother… but I have seen the unfurling of new, green leaves, and I have seen the that my "stems" are growing stronger and aren't as frail a they were a year ago… 6 months ago… I'm able to drink up more of that Living Water, as I dig my roots deeper and deeper into the rich soil that is the Love of the Lord. Soon, I know there will be beautitul blossoms and a fragrance that will sing of God's glory!
Please be in prayer that I will continue to be patient with the Lord's gardening, and that there will be safety in His Garden, for my children, and myself – both physical and emotional.
God Bless you, Renee, and God be with your readers!
Ann in Seattle
[email protected]
Renee, thank you for that beautiful description. My husband of 19 years suddenly walked out on me& our daughter, for another woman and her family. I am trying to surrender him, my marriage, and control over to GOD. The pain and hurt are excruciating but i am trying.
info for drawing: Tracey, 41, in Athens, GA
[email protected]