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Have you ever struggled with anything? Like struggling so bad its maddening? I have. I have prayed, cried out, surrendered, and done all the things that one should in letting go and letting God. Yet, I still continued to struggle.

“Let God have your life; He can do more with it than you can.” Dwight L. Moody

I love a good quote. I fist bump that quote like nobody's business. I repost it on Instagram with all the praise hands. And then I go back to my life not really living that quote out. That's Moody's quote to me. Let God have my life? Certainly. Here ya go. But there I sit with fists closed tight holding on desperately to as much control as I possibly can. In my mind, I am letting go. In my heart, I am holding on.

I was reading a story about someone who was pleading with God about a struggle in her life. This wasn't just a little tear shed. She was crying out gut-wrenching cries to God to take it all away and make it stop. But, He didn't. Have you ever been there? Ya, me too.

As I read this story, I started to see a new perspective. What if God was willing to take that struggle away but she wasn't willing to let it go? How many times do we beg God to take it from us or to bless us with that one thing we would trade everything else for, yet He doesn't seem to come through? We search the Scriptures desiring to find words that justify where we are at in our lives trying so desperately to relieve ourselves of the pain. Maybe God wants to take the struggle or sin away or give that blessing to us, but we are unwilling to do the work to get there?

I have held on tightly too often. I have asked God to move in my life but I wasn't willing to budge. He wanted to give me that blessing but I didn't want to adhere to the change and the charge. He wanted to take that sin from me but I wasn't ready to give it up. God is ready. Am I?

Prayer is a wonderfully powerful and beautiful thing. Prayer moves in us and our lives in a supernatural way. Don't ever stop praying. With prayer comes action. Prayer needs faith. We can cry out all we want, but if we don't believe, if we don't have faith, prayer stands powerless. God can absolutely still move, and does move, in all of our lives whether we pray or not. But, we need to do something in return. He can't take it away if we aren't willing to give it to Him.

I have gone to God with closed fists so many times. I have begged and pleaded not willing to put in the work to bring about the change and justified every step. I have desperately desired to leave something behind unwilling to let it go. And I blamed God for my agony. I held God accountable for my inaction.

Sometimes I need to step outside of my life in order to see it. I need to look beyond how I think things operate to see what is really going on. When I am pleading with my Savior for some relief, I need to be willing to look inside to determine if it's me that is the problem.

God wants to relieve all of us from the struggle and bondage that tie us to those dark places. We just need to be willing to let go and put in the blood, sweat, and tears to get to the other side. Do the work. Grind the pavement. Freedom awaits all of us on the other side.

"Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." Psalm 62:8

Love & Blessings,
Meg

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