S3|Ep9 Straight Paths: Surrendering the Wheel

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In many areas of life, my husband and I make a great team. God has richly blessed
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us with the ability to work well together, quite literally.
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There were years of our lives where we physically worked together farming and
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raising flowers and greenhouses. Before God began blessing us with children,
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we spent many, many hours working together side by side.
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And I thank God that we not only made a great team outside of the home, but inside as well.
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It has never lost on me what a rich blessing that this truly is.
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One thing my husband Matt is really good at is planning vacations.
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He loves researching the location we'll be heading to as well as reading up
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on all the local restaurants and activities that we can do while we're there.
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He enjoys the planning process and he gets all jazzed up about navigating a new place.
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We love to experience new places together and as a family, not to mention that
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our kids are always up for an adventure and our great little travelers themselves.
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I love that he loves planning the trips because I love going along for the ride.
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You tell me the time and the place, and I am guaranteed to have those clothes
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packed, snacks prepared, and everyone promptly ready to roll out.
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I promise you, if you need a great travel partner, I'm your gal.
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Matt and I have been together since we were 16, and I have followed him many,
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many places in our lifetime together, 9 out of 10 times without many questions, quite honestly.
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I trust his instincts, his taste in travel, and his planning skills.
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I am confident in his navigation by land or by sea, and because I know him in
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his heart, I know he would never intentionally lead me or our family anywhere
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that would jeopardize our safety or cause us to have a terrible time,
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I of course know that my husband is human and is capable of making mistakes,
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but all the same I trust him because I know his heart well,
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In life, I wish I could say that I have never wavered on my ability to trust
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the one who is infallible And who loves me enough to have given his life for
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mine As the lord has led me through certain seasons.
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I have had so many questions At any given moment, I can be found with new uncertainties,
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a new list of worries, or a new apprehension about where this plan is headed.
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Not only have I been found to have many questions, I have been found at times questioning my Lord.
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I know the Lord welcomes my questions, no matter how doubtful they may seem,
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but I often can feel convicted in my asking.
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Maybe guilty for asking is more like it.
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At my core, I am saddened by the amount of times that my heart needs to be reminded
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that his goodness and mercy are sure to follow me all the days of my life.
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I should know this by now, shouldn't I?
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Because of my human condition, I fail to comprehend just how much God truly cares for me.
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And because it is my heart that needs repair, I fail to comprehend how much
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He desires what is best for me.
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Because of my natural prideful tendencies, there will always be a part of me,
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earthside, that needs to fight my flesh and deal aggressively with the temptation
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to doubt that God is for me.
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Trusting in the Lord doesn't just happen with a piece of my heart.
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It requires the entirety of my heart.
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The Lord's love and grace toward me may come in ways I do not expect.
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His discipline and care for me take on many different forms,
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oftentimes incomprehensible from the way I imagine.
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But my soul can rest assured that wherever it is that He is bringing me,
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my Lord is always righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works.
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Psalm 145, 17 Thankfully, with the help of the Holy Spirit, He has gently guided
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me along the path that Christ has prepared for me from long ago.
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He continues to show me patience and meet me right where I am,
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remembering my humanity, my limited capacity for understanding,
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and my finite view of time.
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He is, time and time again, merciful to me and my broken estate that He came to redeem.
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What my heart fails to recall without reminding is that I can most certainly
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trust my unknown future to the God who knows my ending before my beginning.
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He cannot be anything but faithful with the details in between,
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and I can trust that He will sustain my faith in Him every step of the way.
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In order to see the straight path, I must surrender the control of navigating the road.
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Surrender is often synonymous with loss under the qualifications of the world.
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Surrender by the world's standard is a sign of weakness. It shows that you have
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given something over completely, that you've been conquered.
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But as Christians, we are to see surrender as the only way we are able to be victorious.
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As followers of Christ, surrender is where we find our victory.
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Surrender to the Christian is about giving up but not giving in.
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It is about releasing the control and power that is held so tightly in our grasp
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and placing it into hands much bigger than ours Full surrender only becomes
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possible for me by knowing intimately the good shepherd of my soul,
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Knowing the one who holds me in the palm of his hand produces a heart that is
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saturated in a peace that surpasses anything that I could comprehend,
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It is a peace in the personhood of Jesus that His Spirit brings by way of indwelling
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me that will enable me to be still and know how faithful my God truly is.
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Before we go today, let's hide some of God's Word in our hearts together.
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These words come from Proverbs 3, verses 5-12.
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding.
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Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.
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Don't be impressed with your own wisdom Instead, fear the Lord and turn away
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from evil Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones,
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Honor the Lord with your wealth And with the best part of everything you produce,
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Then he will fill your barns with grain And your vats will overflow with good
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wine My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline And don't be upset when he corrects you,
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For the Lord corrects those he loves Just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights,
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Amen Thanks be to God for the gift of his infallible word.
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Thank you. Thank you all for joining me today, friends. I hope that you were encouraged today.
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For those of you who don't know, I am Gianna, your host for this podcast.
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I am so grateful for you to have joined me today, and I would love it if you
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join me again. So please don't forget to subscribe.
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I always love to hear from you all. You can find the various ways of how to
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get a hold of me down below in the show notes.
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As you go out today, though, I pray that you know that you can trust every moment
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of your life's journey to the one who knew you before you were born.
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He is faithful to be trusted with every detail along the way.
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I hope you remember that today and every day, this good news was always meant
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to be shared. See you next time, church!