Exodus 1:22
Introduction
Have you ever observed a new set of parents? They are eager to nurture and protect their beautiful blessing from God. They’re consistently ready to fight off the looming germs, the hidden home dangers and all the things seeking to destroy the health and wholeness of the child. They take all the precautions. They read all the books. They follow all the rules. Yet sometimes the baby still gets sick, rolls off the couch, grows older and falls into the wrong peer group, or still makes some bad decisions as a teenager or young adult. As time progresses and reality sets in, new parents eventually realize one of the most important things about parenting: do all you can and surrender your children to God, who loves your children more than you ever could.
God placed purpose, dreams, legacy and gifting in us that the pharaohs of our lives want to steal and destroy. It is natural for us to desire to protect the precious gifts God has given us. When we are diligent in seeing our lives from a spiritual lens, we will realize that in order for us to endure the burden of protecting what God has given us to steward, we must be willing to put our blessings in the hands of God. When Jochebed, Moses’ mother, surrendered her son to God by placing him in the Nile, it was at that moment that a place of dying became a place of surviving.
Much like the surrender of parents, when we surrender in faith to what God has birthed in us for His purpose and plan in our lives, we will begin to see His sovereign will. And God’s will is far greater and safer than we could have ever provided in our own strength. The place of surrender is the most rewarding place for a believer to operate. As a result of your faithfulness, God can give you back what you believed you lost. He can even compensate for your dedication because you surrendered and learned to surrender to God that which is most precious to you.
Getting Started
- Do you know of a parent, or were you the parent that was overzealous about protecting their child? Did that change after you or the parents you know had additional children?
- What purpose, dream, legacy, gifting, etc., has God birthed in you that you desire to nurture and protect?
Let’s Get Personal
- Do you find yourself fighting in your own strength to protect something you feel God has given to you, only to feel burdened by it? Are you still in this place?
- Is there a time where you saw spiritually that your circumstances were too heavy for you?
Take the Next Step
- What would you like to see God do with the blessings He has conceived in you?
- After hearing this week’s message, what practical opportunities do you see for incorporating survival tactics in your plans that lead you to a posture of surrendering to God?
- Want to go deeper? Take time to look at the following passages: Genesis 6:14; Exodus 2:2-9; Psalm 55:22; Proverbs 3:5-6; Matthew 11:28; and Ephesians 3:20.
Renew Your Mind
“Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”
Psalm 55:22
