BE STILL Spend 2 minutes in stillness and silence with God

SCRIPTURE Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

DEVOTION

Have you ever seen the picture floating around of Jesus, the little girl, and the teddy bears? Jesus and a young girl are facing one another while she tightly holds a small teddy bear in both arms. Jesus has one hand out for her to give Him her teddy bear, and the words “Just trust me” are above His head. Above the little girl’s head are the words, “But I love it, God.” Unfortunately, there is something the little girl cannot see. Jesus has His other hand behind His back and in it, He holds a teddy bear at least 3 times as big as the one she holds!

Imagine that we are the little girl in this scenario. The teddy bears we hold are our plans, desires, attitudes, and control. Our teddy bears may not be the best for us, are failing us, are leading us down the wrong path, or look good in theory but simply are not of God. As we discuss the idea of submitting to God, think of it as releasing our own teddy bears to Him and accepting the ones He has for us.

Submission requires a childlike nature that chronological age, the woes of life, and our upbringing can make difficult to do. For some of us, the idea of submission can be cringey because we fought so hard to gain control over our lives. Releasing to God can feel like defeat. For others, the idea of submission can feel suffocating because we are used to doing whatever we want without restraint. Submitting to God can feel like a prison. Wherever you may fall on this spectrum, know that the enemy wants us to feel these negative feelings because if they are strong enough, we may never submit to God and release our “teddy bears” to Him.

What word keeps popping up when submission is mentioned? RELEASE! When we submit to God, we are letting go of our own desires, plans, and ways. We are moving them out of alignment with our flesh and into alignment with Him. We are intentionally choosing to forgo our limited human outlook and walk in the will of our all-knowing Father. We humble ourselves, saying, “God, I don’t know it all, but You do. I don’t have all the answers, but You do. My flesh doesn’t know how to live righteously, but with the help of Holy Spirit, I will make it submit to You because...You do.”

Although we may know what submission looks like, we’ve discussed how it may be a struggle at times. Sometimes we get so focused on resisting the mere idea of release, that we find ourselves proactively fighting with God. But what if we just focused on delighting in the Lord? What if we shifted our eyes from our teddy bears and moved our focus to Him?

Over these past two days, we have sought God’s face and learned how to abide in His presence. As we truly and wholeheartedly abide in Him, we will naturally release what isn't under submission. Our desires, plans, and ways will begin to shift simply because that is what His presence does. We will want to do what He desires and live how He commands because we love Him that much. Releasing and submitting won’t feel like defeat or a prison, they will feel like victory and freedom!

Furthermore, when we are filled up with God, the temptation of worldly comfort and desires that fulfill the flesh won’t seem as enticing. We will be able to easily resist the devil and he will most certainly flee. Submitting to God is the result of truly abiding in Him, and when we are submitted to Him, we are always thriving!

What area(s) of your life do you need to fully submit to God?

PRAY IT OUT

Lord, thank You for Your all-knowing nature. I love that You're an omni- scient God. I acknowledge that Your thoughts are not my thoughts, nor are Your ways my ways. While I may not understand all that You do or desire for me to do, I thank You that Your ways and Your thoughts are far higher than mine. I know that I may struggle to release certain parts of my life to You and fully walk with You in all areas as I should. To be specific, I struggle to submit these things to You: [State what you need to submit to God].

Father God, help me to be alert and sober-minded, not falling prey to the devil because I didn’t submit these areas to You. You have given me the authority to stomp on every young lion, cobra, and serpent when I dwell in You. I will not allow the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy the areas I have not submitted to You. I desire for these areas to have life and have it abundantly through Jesus! I declare that as I submit these areas to You, any temptations of doubt, fear, anxiety, worry, lack, or inadequacy, shall flee in the name of Jesus! Thank You Lord for being patient with me and thank You for Your constant grace and mercy in this life with You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

1 Peter 5:8 Psalm 91:13

John 10:10 Isaiah 55:8-9