The Next Surrender

This post is written to link with Five Minute Friday: write for five minutes on a one-word prompt.  The prompt today is “next.”

This week I had the privilege of sharing a guest post as part of the #TellHisStory link-up.  If you haven’t read it already, you can find it by clicking here.  In the post I shared the story of my journey of surrender over the last few years – of the adventure of saying “yes” to God and stepping out into the unknown, and the unexpected blessings that came as a result.

I’ve bee struck more and more over the last few months though by the fact that this isn’t the end of the story, and this isn’t the end of the surrender, and it leads me to ask the question of God: “What’s next?”

And slowly and gradually, an answer is emerging.  The details aren’t clear, but I feel I have a sense of the general direction.  It both excites me and terrifies me, which, in my experience, is often how God works.

I’m excited by the prospect of what God could do, of finally having a sense of direction over something that has been building in me for a while, and feeling that the time is right to step out.

I’m terrified because I still don’t know exactly what that looks like or where the road ahead will lead me.

But if I’ve learned one thing over the last few years, it is to take one step at a time and trust God to lead.

Focus on the next step and trust God to direct the journey.

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I’m sorry this is a bit of a mysterious post for now, but I’m sure I will be sharing more soon.

I’m also encouraged this Easter weekend to remember that my surrender is not the one that really matters.  I want to allow God to use me to help fulfil his purposes, but I am not called to save the world.  He has already provided for that, and anything we can do for him is simply an outworking of the greatest surrender of all.

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Finally, in Kate’s FMF post, she mentioned the book The Next Right Thing by Emily Freeman. I haven’t read it yet either, but I have heard lots of good things about it and I’m looking forward to getting into it over the next few weeks.

One of my blogging friends, Linda, is running an online book club going through the book beginning on Sunday 28th April.  If anyone is interested in reading and discussing with us, you’d be very welcome.  You can find the details here.

Hope you have a happy and hope-filled Easter!