We tie-dyed shirts on Sunday. It has been years since the last time I did it, and I had forgotten how unpredictable the end result can be. After folding, rubber banding, and applying the dye, I was convinced that I had successfully created the ugliest tie-dye shirt ever made! There wasn't anything I could do about it, so I walked away and waited. The next evening, I rinsed and unfolded our shirts, and to my amazement, they were beautiful! Each one unique, colorful, and gorgeous!
The shirts reminded me of God-lessons in surrender and trust. When situations that seem hopeless and beyond repair are placed in the hands of our loving Father, He can redeem them. He can work in ALL things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose! (Romans 8:28 one of my very favorite truths!) I've seen God do it over and over in my life when I finally surrender and trust Him to work as only He can.
The surrendering is the hard part for me. What if God's best for me isn't my plan for me? What if God's plan requires letting go and walking away? Does God really know and want what is best for me? Hard questions. Questions that I have wrestled with so many times.
Whenever doubt gets in the way of surrender, I have to return to the truth of God's Word. I open my Bible and find verse after verse that tells me how much God loves me. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." He has plans for me, good plans! Plans beyond anything I can think or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20) How can I question the great love my Good Shepherd? Psalm 23 says, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." He knows what I need, and He knows the desires of my heart, and He knows what is best for me.
It all comes down to trust. Trusting an omniscient, omnipotent God who loves me and has plans to give me hope and a future. Trusting God to take the lumps of coal in my life and turn them into dazzling diamonds. Choosing each day, sometimes minute by minute, to surrender it all to my Father and to trust Him to make something beautiful!
