So I recently participated in a “surrender fast” from the book 40 Day Surrender Fast by Celeste Owens. I surrendered all of the things that I wanted to rid my life of like negative thoughts and distractions, procrastination and stressful conversations with a certain toxic person in my life. Although this is my fourth time doing the fast, it took me a while to finish because I let other things take priority. I finally finished two days ago and I must say that every time I do it, it’s like the first time all over again. There is something humbling about surrendering something that has control over you and replacing it with what you REALLY want to be in control of your life. In this instance, the goal of the fast is to give the control back to God.
Sometimes we get in our own way, we worry about where we think we should be, what we did years ago and what we think people will say about us. We are in our own heads so much that we can’t see what's actually going on around us and the new and beautiful things God has placed in our lives.
Isaiah 43:18-19 says “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,rivers in the badlands.
In this verse God is telling us to get out of our past. I am taking this straight to heart because I often get caught opening old “treasure chests” and digging up old memories. So much so that I had to add negative thoughts to my list of things that I wanted to fast. I sometimes doubt the things that make me smile because I am remembering what happened to me before. I don’t give myself a chance to be happy because I keep thinking “what if it happens again”. I feel like in this scripture God is telling me to forget everything that has happened before because what he will do for me now can’t be compared.
He is telling me that he can work miracles and make my life new. For some reason it’s like I can’t believe that something good is happening to me because I’ve been through so much bad. There are some areas of my life where I can pray to God and immediately trust and know that he is going to do it. There are other areas in my life where I won’t even pray properly because I am so full of negativity about the situation. This doesn’t even give me space to have faith that God will do it for me. In this verse he is saying to be alert and present, which is something I haven’t been since I have been so preoccupied with the thoughts in my mind. It’s like when we are walking down the street but we are texting on our phones, if you don’t look up you could bump into something or someone but you also could miss so many opportunities.
What are the opportunities you are waiting for? Could they be passing you by while you aren’t paying attention? I believe God wants to make me stronger in my faith so that I can reach the souls that are waiting to hear from me. He wants me to be happy and in love with a family that consists of an amazing husband and my own children as well as my adopted ones. I believe God wants my career and my businesses to grow and expand. God wants me to have more faith and less confusion and negativity. I am working towards staying positive, being present, living to love and having gratitude for what God has done and will do! How about you?
God is doing a new thing and he won’t give up on you…
So don’t give up on yourself!