Remembering God's Provision

God invites us to surrender to His will.

“Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. Stop imitating ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.” Romans 12:1-2 (TPT)

The content of the next three days is what inspired “Remembering God’s Provision.” It won’t be your typical Thanksgiving week message, but I believe it’s important. In fact, these are the lessons that have most transformed my life.

I love invitations! The very nature of the word is positive. To be invited into something means someone was thinking of you, planning for you, and hoping to be with you. What could be better?

I think we’d all agree that an invitation to participate in God’s will is a blessing, but we can’t ignore the fact that difficulty is often included. Paul’s words in Romans 12 are very clear. Our genuine act of worship is to surrender to God’s will. God doesn’t force this action. He simply invites us to lay down our will for His.

Today, I imagine we will all face obstacles and frustrations with our own plans. I bet something in your day will not go as you’d hoped. How will you respond? What will you say/do? If Paul is correct, each of these occasions present an invitation to surrender to God, to respond in a very different way than the world responds. Instead of reacting with frustration, we can remember God’s invitations as opportunities to be inwardly transformed. He is always thinking of you, planning for you, and desiring to be with you. Can we be grateful for the interruptions and disruptions? They may not be pleasant, but they can always lead to transformation. That is worth remembering with gratitude.

Our Father, we have chosen to spend some time remembering You, Your care, Your instruction, and Your invitations. Where would we be without You? When we take time to pause and remember who You are to us, what You’ve done for us, and how You’re always inviting us into more, we can’t help but give thanks. Keep on caring, teaching, and inviting, because we don’t want to miss out on abundant life with You. Since You are always giving, we promise to remember. Amen.