Through The Darkness.

     "That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens." Romans 8:18-21 (MSG)

    

     Let's be blatantly honest. Life sucks sometimes. Period.

Nobody can argue with that. 

There are days for everybody where we sit and wonder what God's even doing in our lives. We get frustrated or confused or doubtful. I definitely think it's easy for us to go there in the midst of the struggles in our lives. It's easier to get mad at God for what we think He's not doing or what we think He's not doing right in our lives. 

It's harder to take what we go through, lay it at the base of the cross, and say, 'Father, this life is Yours. You know what I'm struggling with. You know what this life is throwing at me... But You also already know what is going to become of this situation. So, God I put my complete trust and faith in You. I know You'll take this and make it glorify You when all is said and done.' 

It shouldn't be so hard for us to surrender it all to Him. But because of our human nature that says 'surrender' basically means 'give up', we fear it. I feel like though, surrendering to Christ isn't giving up. At all. 

When we get to that point of utmost surrender of our everything to Christ, we then have a reason to fight. A reason to NOT give up. We're made nothing so that through us, He can be made EVERYTHING. We give ourselves over to a life where He takes the ugliness, the darkness, and the pain of our lives and transforms us to be made more like Him. That is a reason to fight.

Suddenly, the darkness of the world has no power over us. Suddenly, we see everything and everyone with a new perspective. Suddenly? Our absolute surrender changes us. We're made new. 

We no longer need to fear the concept of surrender. There's no reason to give up. Laying all of our hurts and struggles at the base of the cross becomes a sign of hope. The hardships of this world become NOTHING compared to the love and hope and faith that we have in the Lord. We're made completely available to be used to glorify God in our everything; the absolutely incredible God of the universe. We're forever CHANGED.