You Have to Surrender the Outcome
Have you ever needed something to work out a specific way?
The American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote a prayer that later became known as the Serenity prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” Why is it so powerful?
There are things in life you can’t control. If you allow your expectations of specific outcomes to drive, you create misery for yourself. Accepting what you can’t control–and acting on what you can–will give you more peace.
Take Mary and Joseph. They were required by law to travel far from their home while Mary was pregnant.
And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. (Luke 2:4-5, NLT)
It would’ve been more convenient for Mary to stay in Galilee to have her baby. A journey far from home when you’re about to have a baby is risky under the best conditions. In the first century where mass communication didn’t exist and travel was often dangerous, making the journey from Galilee to Bethlehem was anything but certain.
Mary’s expectation of giving birth in the comfort of her home got interrupted by reality. Circumstances dictated she would have to leave her ideal situation behind and embrace an uncertain and dangerous journey to deliver what God had given her.
When we set out on a new journey or make a change in life, know that it won’t go as planned.
This Advent season as we wait for the promise of a new birth of Christ in our lives, we will have to detach from how it happens. As impossible and painful as it sounds, you can only realize your God-given potential by letting go of how God works in your life. There is incredible power in surrendering what's beyond your control.