It was my first Women's Retreat. I had only been a Christian for a year and was still getting used to everything that was so different from my JW upbringing. While songs of worship had always been an important part of my relationship with God, I had never really experienced worship until I came to truly know Christ. I had felt God calling me to raise my hands in worship for a long time but I just wouldn't surrender. I was afraid. Afraid of what people would think.Afraid I would look silly. Afraid that I had no right to experience this deep relationship with Christ while I was yet so young in my faith. Afraid that my family would label me a "Jesus freak", a title that I now wear with honor.
So there I stood in the front row at the end of the evening. I could literally feel my arms wanting to raise, but I refused. The Spirit was stirring in me but I kept trying to hold Him back. I was audibly crying and saying "No Lord I can't, I can't". But as I cried He whispered to me of surrender, He assured me that this place He was calling me to was full of blessing and a deeper relationship with Him. It was as if I could see His face smiling down on me. As I surrendered and lifted my hands to the One true God my soul was overwhelmed with joy and love and thanksgiving. The tears that streamed down my face were now accompanied by a smile and a heart bursting with love for the Lord. Why had it been so difficult for me to say yes? How could I not trust the very One who formed me?
It was not the last time He called me to say yes that night. But since that day, worshiping Jesus with music has been my deepest way to communicate with Him. He speaks to me through song. He reminds me of His faithfulness and love, of His promises. That He has always been there and always will. He calls me to new places. His love for me compels my voice to praise Him and my hands to be open and raised, #palmsup, surrendering all that I have, all that I am, and all that I will be to His divine purpose.
This single act of obedience, this #YestoGod, has forever changed me. It laid the foundation for many yes's to follow. Every time I say yes to God and allow Him to work in and through my life I get to know His character, His purpose, His will. It doesn't mean that it is always easy to say yes but as Lysa Terkeurst says in her book What Happens When Women Say Yes to God ; "The love of Christ compels us to choose obedience."
Everyone worships God differently and I don't expect that you all raise your hands in worship. But, what is God calling YOU to say yes to? Your simple yes, an act of surrender and obedience, will open the door for a deeper relationship with Him, a deeper understanding of His glorious will for your life. What will you choose? "Will the next page in your life be filled with doubts and distractions? Or will it be filled with discovering the blessing of answering God's call on your life?"
I stand #amazed at what God does in our lives when we surrender to His will <3
So What Could I Say
And What Could I do
But offer this heart oh God
Completely to You
