What does your next level require? This is the question burning in my brain right now. On one hand, it terrifies me. There have been so many times in the past that I thought I knew what was required, but an unexpected cost always came that I didn’t account for.
Still another part of me is always concerned that the result won’t be worth it. That I will look back and regret my sacrifice. These concerns about the unknown cause me to hesitate, and I have to be reminded that as I’m counting the imagined costs, I have to balance the scales. God’s track record outweighs every concern.
In my process, I always have to get to the place of trust before I can get to the level of surrender. There’s no other sustaining path to success. My goal now is to just get there faster.
What I See Clearly
My level of surrender reflects my level of success.
We all know that valuable things cost something and the next level is no different. Some seasons have required me to give up things I thought I wanted but truly didn’t need (*cough, cough* It was sometimes a habit but usually a guy). And other times I had to let go of something I knew I needed so God could repurpose and reconfigure it into what it needed to be so I could be more effective. Although all goodbyes aren’t forever, it doesn’t mean they still don’t hurt.
Successful Surrender
I am learning that sustained success can’t be had without surrender. In the past, I thought hard work and logic would get me there. I relied on my mind to strategize a pathway to success but it was never enough to both get me there and keep me there. I thought if I could calculate every step it would maximize success but in the end my need to control catalyzed failure. Your next level requires surrender. It’s impossible to achieve your life’s purpose without it.
We all know that surrendering to God is essential, but that is an overarching goal that is compromised of many situation-specific acts. At times it’s hard to see how surrendering some things in our journey is beneficial to the plan God has for our life, but when we look from heaven’s viewpoint it all makes sense. Sometimes what I’ve had to surrender has surprised me, but looking back I can see how it was connected to my…
