Christian Living

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Perhaps before I began to write on this subject, I should ask you this question: have you ever seen any loving parent who wouldn’t carry his baby which ran toward him, in the manner of babies- hands raised up? I’m yet to see any.

That is what happens when we yield our lives, our total lives, to our Maker. When we lift our hands toward heaven, God will draw us to Himself. And I’m yet to neither see nor hear any one who’s unhappy in the presence of the One who made the galaxy.

Jesus illustrated in Mat 6:25-32 the advantages of yielding to God. And then He showed how we could truly yield. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God His righteousness, and all these things (that will give us true happiness) will be added to you as well (v 33, bracket mine). We cannot find happiness outside of God.

One reason many Christians are still n there poor state of happiness is that they’re always trying to prove that they are hardworking. Yet their Maker says “… not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit…” (Zec 4:6). You don’t earn the mercy or favor of God; you get it by God’s providential power of love and Grace.

What happens to us when we yield ourselves- especially our pains- to God is what the Bible says “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” (2Cor 16:19a). Total, not partial, yielding makes heaven move on your behalf. It tells God that we are nothing without Him. And since God created the earth from nothingness, He can make something from our nothingness.

I read a story of a farmer who planted a tree and asked God for rain to help it grow. God answered his prayer and sent down the rain. Next, he prayed for sunshine t help the tree blossom. Once again, God answered his prayer by sending the sun. But the tree died.

Greatly upset, the farmer decided to inquire from a master-Gardner: “I ordered all the right ingredients to make this tree grow only for it to end up dead. What went wrong?” the Gardner took him aside and showed him his own garden filled with healthy plants and trees. “When I plant a garden,” he said, “I ask God to send whatever He feels it needs; I figure He knows best.”

Some relationships with God can be termed as ‘transactional’. Sufferers are the most prone to be in this category. Often than not they tell God (and this is very true): “if You would just do this or change this situation for me, I’ll yield my total being onto You.” This, though natural, is not how God operates. God would not reduce His relationship with His sons into a formula. He does no substitute our pains; He transforms it, making it a tool of building us up that we might do nothing but glorify Him at the end.

We can never trust God too much. We should not just believe in God; we should believe Him. One of the best ways of keeping our happiness is to keep on believing and trusting God. A way of being sure of God’s leading is when it involves us being challenged to believe Him. There is no promise of God that is too good to be true.

When you try to look for happiness outside of God, you’ll only find out that you are without an invisible force, superior to your circumstances. With God’s strength behind you, His arms beneath you and His love all around you, you can be sure of true happiness, even in the midst of life’s greatest difficulties. That is why Prov 16:3 says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.” (NIV).

Remember, “God is on our side, but it is more important to know that we are on God’s side.” (Abraham Lincoln). “A small man stands on others. A great man stands on God.” (John Mason).

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