When was the last time you were stretched beyond your comfort zone? How did you respond? My friend, Jennifer Slattery, offers the following reminder: it’s really not about us – it’s about our dependence on God! Join Jennifer as she shares what God can do with our surrender:
A seemingly impossible task
I knew instantly by the look on her face we’d thrust this poor woman so far out of her comfort zone, she was close to freak-out mode. Maybe even near hyperventilating stage. In less than two weeks, the task she’d agreed to had ballooned; those twenty women she’d agreed to teach to paint had morphed into 100.
That’s a lot of brush-wielding women! Many who had never painted before. Not only that, but they’d have an hour and a half—ninety minutes—to complete their project. Except we started late, and the women were a bit chatty.
Make that seventy minutes to teach 100, inexperienced women, to paint.
As our women’s connection team gathered around this sweet sister in Christ, she looked at us with wide eyes and said,
You know I haven’t really done anything like this before…
The One who makes things possible
To which I responded, quoting my pastor, Lance Burch from Reality Church:
What God can do through limited people who are completely dependent on Him is limitless. (click to tweet)
In other words, when God asks you to do something, say yes, then step back and prepare yourself to be amazed. Because it’s not up to us. It’s not about how skilled or equipped we are. Rather, it’s all about our surrender. We’re to listen obey and leave the rest to God.
Because through His mighty power at work within us, God can (and does) accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (Eph. 3:20)
The result
That is precisely what happened during Reality Church’s first Women’s Connection event, and within ten minutes, this sweet believer was filled with such peace and joy, she radiated the love of Christ.
More than that, the women she taught began asking questions like: How can I learn more about your church? When’s your next event? Can you contact me when you have another women’s event?
All because this sweet woman said yes and focused not on her fears or insecurities but rather on pleasing the God who called her.
Your turn
What about you? What is God calling you to do, and what is keeping you from that? Actually, let me ask you a different question—if you could do one thing and knew you wouldn’t fail, what would that be? Then, before you dismiss that idea, contemplate the following verse:
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Deuteronomy 31:6
Jennifer Slattery writes soul-stirring fiction for New Hope Publishers, a publishing house passionate about bringing God’s healing grace and truth to the hopeless. She also writes for Crosswalk.com, Internet Café Devotions, and the group blog, Faith-filled Friends. When not writing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her teenage daughter and coffee dates with her handsome railroader husband.
Visit with Jennifer online at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.
Exciting news
Jennifer’s novel, When Dawn Breaks has just been released:
As the hurricane forces Jacqueline to evacuate, her need for purpose and restitution motivate her to head north to her estranged and embittered daughter and into the arms of a handsome new friend. However, he’s dealing with a potential conspiracy at work, one that could cost him everything, and Jacqueline isn’t sure if he will be the one she can lean on during the difficult days ahead. And then there are the three orphans to consider, especially Gavin. Must she relinquish her chance at having love again in order to be restored?
Read a free, 36-page excerpt here
Purchase a copy: