G.W. Bill Elliott, Jr once noted;
Of all the things God can make, He can't make you listen to Him; can't make you follow/trust Him; can't make you love Him. Up to you, now!
Week:
5
Trust and Surrender
Choosing dependence, surrender, and obedience. This module invites a posture of relinquishment—trading control for trust in God’s wisdom and timing. It addresses common barriers to surrender and provides practices for obedience that flow from love rather than duty. Participants are encouraged to test trust in concrete ways and to reflect on how surrender transforms decision-making.
Objectives
Practice waiting on God’s timing.
Learn to trust God in weakness.
Identify areas of control and practice surrender.
Reflections
What will I surrender this week and how will I remember to do it?
How has surrender changed me before?
Where am I trying to control outcomes that belong to God?
NowTo the HowTo
Accountability/Tracking
Pair with a partner to report weekly on one surrendered action and its outcome.
Community Action
Practice asking for help: each person requests one small, practical favor from the group this week.
Creative Project
Draft a visible “Surrender Pledge” card to place where you’ll see it daily.
Leader Prompt
Share a brief, vulnerable story of a surrendered decision and the fruit it produced.
Personal Practice
Identify one control area and write a short prayer of surrender to repeat each morning.
Devotionals
Self-Help Lie
Too many times, I've heard, 'God helps those that help themselves', and that is such a deep, deep lie! It's actually a half-truth, more than a lie; He does help those... but, not those that are already helping themselves, or able to help themselves. Our devotional today is a gentle reminder... OK, maybe not 'so' gentle... that self-help is not where your relationship with God will get deeper, closer, or more enriched. We can only help ourselves just so much; we are becoming more and more...
Forge Ahead Blindly Seeing
I ride a bicycle back-n-forth to work... have done it daily since 2001... missing some days, but typically covering some 4,500 miles a year. As I ride that bike lane each day, each way, I encounter many obstacles. No... nothing large at all... nothing all that 'lane blocking'... just... tire-flattening obstacles! As I snap along at a pretty brisk speed, it is tough to keep an eye on all the things in the roadway. Over the years, I have noticed that the more I concentrate on NOT running over...
Our Two Edged Lord
Do you ever find yourself treating God kind of like a Bellhop? Too often, we only communicate with Him when we need Him and/or there is something going on that's just too big for us to handle. We know He's "always there"; we know He's ready to meet with us; we even know we can count on Him. So, it is just too easy to reach out to Him when 'we' need/want Him... you know... like a Bellhop. Psalms 105:4 reminds us; " Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore. ", so we really...
If the Lord Doesn't Want To
Ever thought about that? The things the He doesn't want to do in your life, or even in the world in general. So often we're hoping He 'allows' us to do things; to accomplish tasks, projects, life-dreams; to enjoy a fuller life; to be safe/secure. Too often, we're really just doing enough just to get by, to keep Him pleased (not thrilled) with us... too concerned with the cause-n-effect of our relationship and fellowship with. Today's devotional gets us to focus on the 'today only' aspect of...
Surrender to Victory
I know, surrendering is typically considered defeat. Victory and winning are two different things, too. Too often in our lives, we win (succeed), but don't actually enjoy/realize victory. Seems very odd, I know, but our devotional today reminds us that surrender with the Lord results in victory with the Lord... not against the Lord, but 'with' the Lord, 'in' the Lord. Sure, we can do many things, including living our entire lives without the Lord; we can work, raise families, navigate many...