Rhythms for Revival: Release

We often think that we have to “make things happen” for God…make out our list of things we want to do for Him and then ask Him to bless it…yet He just asks that we BE with Him. Spend time with Him, walk daily with Him, and then open our eyes to see what He is doing around us and open our ears to hear His voice and direction to join Him in the work He is already doing.

I've been going through an incredible Bible Study called Experiencing God and the Lord has been revealing some really amazing truths to me. One of those truths is that God is working all around us and He invites us into the work that He is already doing. 

Blackaby & King write, “In Scripture, you never find God asking people to dream up what they want to do for Him. He never urges His people to set impressive goals and generate grand visions for Him and His kingdom. In the Bible, God rebukes those who propose their own best thinking over His commands. Those in the Bible who received praise from God were not brilliant planners. They were humble ‘heroes of faith’ (Heb. 11). God commended them for their compliance, not for their performance.”

As a self-sufficient, goal-setting, “go-getter”, this has been a huge adjustment for me - to shift my mindset to simply receive what He has for me rather than me making things happen in my own strength and asking HIM to join ME. Oops.

What is your natural inclination? 

Striving in your own strength and simply “bringing Jesus with you” or spending time with Him daily, learning to discern and hear His voice, and surrendering to His will and His way so that we are simply responding with a simple “Yes, Lord. Here I am. I will join You in Your work."

When we look in the Bible, we find humble, broken, imperfect, ordinary people that choose to meet with God, spend time with Him, build a relationship with Him…and then He speaks to them and invites them into work that He is already doing around them. Work that He has prepared them for even when they didn't realize it - it's up to us to simply determine our response to Him. Will we stay stuck in our self-centeredness or will we step out and go with God? To release control of our lives to Him - to walk with Him and work with Him daily.

Our first Revival Rhythm for our prayer walk is Release. 

Release your burdens at the foot of the cross.

Many of us may need to release burdens such as life circumstances, relationships, emotions (grief, despair, discouragement), doubts, questions…we spoke of this at Revive in May….

But how many of us need to release the burden of SELF? 

Self-centeredness. Selfishness. Self-promotion. Self-contempt. Self-condemnation.

When we kneel at the foot of the cross and release our burdens - we also need to release our very self. We yield to the authority of Jesus. We receive His Holy Spirit and invite Him to fill us, to use us, to show us where He is working so that we can join Him in His work. 

We don't release our burdens and then stand up and say - “Ok, Lord, thank you for what You've done…now let me show you what I want to do with my life and you just come along with me and bless my efforts.” What a slap in the face to the One we call our Lord and Savior. This is still clinging to self rather than submitting our lives to Jesus.

Blackaby & King write, “God wants us to align our lives with Him so He will accomplish His divine purposes in and through us. God is not our servant to bless our plans and desires. He is our Lord, and we must adjust our lives to what He is doing and to the ways He chooses to accomplish His work. If we will not submit to God and His ways, He will allow us to follow our own devices. But be sure of this: we will miss God’s activity, and we will not experience what God wants to do through us to bless others.”

Are we truly surrendering our lives to Jesus and allowing Him to be the Lord of our life?

Jesus offers this invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG),

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Will we choose to release our self and instead keep company with Jesus? Walk with Him and work with Him daily…exchange our burdens to live freely and lightly? Yield in submission to His authority and the work of His Holy Spirit within our lives?

And as we release, as we surrender, as we walk with Him and work with Him…He speaks to us and invites us to partner with Him in His work. How humbling and incredible that the Creator of this universe - the One who breathes His very life into us - invites US to join HIM in His work. Let me never forget that I am dust, a vapor in the wind, absolutely nothing on my own. 

But God…God is REVIVAL. 

God breathes His life within us, revives us, strengthens & sustains us day by day. And God invites us to release our expectations, our dreams, our goals, our burdens, our very self…so that He can fill us with something much much better. Himself.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:7-10 (MSG),

“Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all His idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join Him in the work He does, the good work He has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.” 

Have you truly released control of your life to Jesus? Will you today?

Alright, now it’s time to join Him in His work - the good work He has gotten ready for us to do…work we had better be doing.

Note from Elizabeth:

This is something I have been personally convicted of over the past few months. As I have been learning to release…truly release…control to my life, I've been shifting my perspective to simply look for where God is already at work and then asking Him where I fit into His work.

And that has led to some pretty incredible opportunities…beginning with the opportunity to host a Revive Winter Retreat!!

The Lord brought together connections and a generous family that is donating a beautiful climate-controlled barn venue for us in Mora, MN (Knife River Place) on Saturday, February 1st from 8:30am-4:30pm. Please mark your calendars and save the date! This will be a refreshing, much-needed get-away for our long Minnesota winters. Stay tuned here on our website and in our monthly email newsletters for more information. Registration will open for this event on November 1st so there will be plenty of time to gift tickets for Christmas :)