Letting Go of the Reigns

The person who really does begin to move is the person who has had his final despair over himself, and has come to see quite clearly by the Holy Spirit's illumination that it is "no longer I, but Christ"—'Not what I am, O Lord, but what Thou art, that, that alone, can be my soul's true rest': Thy love, not mine; Thy peace, not mine; Thy rest, not mine; Thy everything, nothing of mine; Thyself! That is the essential foundation of spiritual growth, spiritual knowledge, spiritual education. " T. Austin Sparks


For me personally, I despair over my inability and feelings of insignificance and limitations. The Apostle Paul said he gloried in his inabilities because he knew that in his weakness Christ's strength was made perfect. This is so drastically different from what we are taught in the world. We are taught that our weaknesses are bad, our failures and flaws need to be fixed so people will approve of us or deem us good...worthy. It is because of this belief that I am having such a hard time with letting go, giving up total control of my life. There are so many things that I would change about myself and my life that I feel actually hinder me from doing what I think needs to be done, or hinders me from having what I think would be the perfect life. When from God's view those very weaknesses are what allow HIM to work through me best, because truly when I am at an end of myself only then can I truly rely totally on him and it not be my power but HIS power, not be my wisdom but his widom, not my strength but his strength. HIS LIFE not mine in operation in me.

My husband is in a series right now entitled "Heavenly Minded, Earthly Good", It's bringing me face to face with how much control I want over my life. He said something in this message that really hit home with me. He said, "to be heavenly minded is when your soul becomes aware of the reality of it's position in Christ. Understanding this will cause you to look out at the world from where you dwell, which is in Christ, and no longer see the world out from your situations and earthly circumstances."

For so long I have looked out at the world through my circumstances. My circumstances are what have defined how I viewed myself and our church. I have always had this feeling of not having enough. Where our church is concerned I have often felt like God left us hanging, that there were so many things that we should be doing but can't because of lack of people, finances and resources. In my personal life for so long I have defined myself by my credit score. If it was good I felt better about myself, if it was bad I felt worse about myself. With this teaching I am coming to realize that having Christ be my life means that with God our strength, ability, power, wisdom, and accomplishments are not pluses, but in actuality they are hinderances to God being able to move in me and in our church. God is so other than man kind.


He actually views our human strengths as weaknesses because the better I am in an area the more apt I am to trust in my ability. That is why Paul said, "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

I say again God is so OTHER than Man Kind and as the Holy Spirit continues to reveal Christ as my life... I long for the day when I no longer despise my weaknesses but on the contrary count all my accomplishments as dung and ONLY glory in HIM!

The person who really does begin to move is the person who has had his final despair over himself, and has come to see quite clearly by the Holy Spirit's illumination that it is "no longer I, but Christ"—'Not what I am, O Lord, but what Thou art, that, that alone, can be my soul's true rest': Thy love, not mine; Thy peace, not mine; Thy rest, not mine; Thy everything, nothing of mine; Thyself! That is the essential foundation of spiritual growth, spiritual knowledge, spiritual education. " T. Austin Sparks


For me personally, I despair over my inability and feelings of insignificance and limitations. The Apostle Paul said he gloried in his inabilities because he knew that in his weakness Christ's strength was made perfect. This is so drastically different from what we are taught in the world. We are taught that our weaknesses are bad, our failures and flaws need to be fixed so people will approve of us or deem us good...worthy. It is because of this belief that I am having such a hard time with letting go, giving up total control of my life. There are so many things that I would change about myself and my life that I feel actually hinder me from doing what I think needs to be done, or hinders me from having what I think would be the perfect life. When from God's view those very weaknesses are what allow HIM to work through me best, because truly when I am at an end of myself only then can I truly rely totally on him and it not be my power but HIS power, not be my wisdom but his widom, not my strength but his strength. HIS LIFE not mine in operation in me.

My husband is in a series right now entitled "Heavenly Minded, Earthly Good", It's bringing me face to face with how much control I want over my life. He said something in this message that really hit home with me. He said, "to be heavenly minded is when your soul becomes aware of the reality of it's position in Christ. Understanding this will cause you to look out at the world from where you dwell, which is in Christ, and no longer see the world out from your situations and earthly circumstances."

For so long I have looked out at the world through my circumstances. My circumstances are what have defined how I viewed myself and our church. I have always had this feeling of not having enough. Where our church is concerned I have often felt like God left us hanging, that there were so many things that we should be doing but can't because of lack of people, finances and resources. In my personal life for so long I have defined myself by my credit score. If it was good I felt better about myself, if it was bad I felt worse about myself. With this teaching I am coming to realize that having Christ be my life means that with God our strength, ability, power, wisdom, and accomplishments are not pluses, but in actuality they are hinderances to God being able to move in me and in our church. God is so other than man kind.


He actually views our human strengths as weaknesses because the better I am in an area the more apt I am to trust in my ability. That is why Paul said, "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

I say again God is so OTHER than Man Kind and as the Holy Spirit continues to reveal Christ as my life... I long for the day when I no longer despise my weaknesses but on the contrary count all my accomplishments as dung and ONLY glory in HIM!