Daily Surrender

What does it mean to be humble in our relationship with God?

There are three things that the apostle James mentions that can help us: submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God.

Submit to God.
Submitting to God means coming under His authority. Rather than living according to our own desires and ways of living, we should submit those things to God and live according to His desires and standards.

In order to truly submit to God, we must first recognize that His ways are better than ours. We must recognize that He knows better than we do. We must also believe that He has our best intentions in mind. He cares for us.

Resist the devil.
The devil desires to keep us from our relationship with God and cause us to stray from God. When we resist him by God’s strength, he will flee from us.

Draw near to God.
The best way to submit to God and resist the devil is to draw close to God in our relationship with Him. Not only does He promise to draw close to us, but He will also give us strength and grace to endure every trial.

Take a moment to think about your own life. Are there parts of your life or plans that you haven’t surrendered to God? Every day is a new opportunity to submit ourselves to God and to draw near to Him. So right now, think of ways you can make these things part of your daily habits.

Dew Comes in the Morning

As I think over my life, of all of the ups and downs, I can’t help but thank God for His faithfulness. In times when it felt like life was never going to get better, God showed up and turned things around for me. I’m sure we all have stories of when God stepped into a situation and turned it around.

I don’t know about you but often time, it’s in the darkest hours of the day that I am tossing and turning with anxieties and worries. Whether it’s worrying about finances or our children or our aging parents or work-related stresses, it seems like when the day comes to an end and it’s quiet, that is when we are most vulnerable and susceptible to the “what if monster”.  What if I’m failing my kids? What if we can’t pay the mortgage? What if my mom gets sick? What if I don’t do well on that presentation? It’s in the dark and lonely hours of the night that we wrestle. But I have some good news for you…

As I did a quick Google search on what time dew forms, I learned that the dew forms at the lowest temperature of the day. In the dark, at the lowest and coldest and maybe loneliest part of the day, before the sun rises, before the birds sing, before the world awakes, the dew forms. What this tells me is that when we are wrestling with our own thoughts and fears, God is working on our behalf to bless us, provide for us, and sustain us for another day. Isn’t it amazing to think that at the same time that we’re struggling, God is blessing us? 

Friends, the good news is that the dew comes in the morning. Regardless of what your night looked like, regardless of how hard it was, the dew comes in the morning. God is faithful. In our darkest, lowest parts of our life, God is still there. He is still providing. He is still blessing. He is still intentional. He is still good. 

Top-Down Approach

I don’t know if you have ever noticed that the dew on each blade of grass starts at the top. The dew is on the top of the grass and as the morning continues, the dew drips down towards the ground and nourishes the ground. As I did some quick research, I read that the dew helps to do three specific things: (1) the dew helps PROTECT t the leaves by helping it retain moisture so that the leaves or blades of grass can be more resistant to hot, dry conditions; (2) the dew helps to REDUCE STRESS for the plant; and (3) the dew helps to FEED OTHERS species by providing hydration for those particular species. Okay now that you have had a quick botany study, what does this have to do with our learning about God? 

My husband and I have continually talked to our children (especially our teenager) about being under our “covering”. We illustrate this idea using an umbrella and we explain to them that when they are obedient, they are under our umbrella (or our covering). Because they are following our rules, being respectful, and honoring what we say, they are under our protection. However, if and when they decide to not obey and not honor, they are then on their own. And we explain how it’s the same concept in our relationship with God. When we are being obedient and honoring God, we are under His covering. But as soon as we step out of that obedience and honor, we are no longer under the covering of God and that’s when we find ourselves in situations that we don’t want to be in.

This parenting lesson that we teach our children reminded me of the dew. The dew starts at the top and then covers the rest of the blade below it. Not only that but it then saturates the ground around it. In the same way, when God decides to bless you, He is not only blessing you, He is also blessing those under you. It’s a top-down approach. When God blesses my husband with a new career opportunity or a new ministerial opportunity or with a vision for our family or even a Word from the Lord, it doesn’t only bless my husband. It blesses all of us. It blesses me and then it continues to flow down and bless our children. And then, because we are overflowing and are saturated with the blessing, we then bless those around us. 

The dew protects and that protection covers everything under it. Like we read about in our botany study, the dew protects from stressful conditions. Where we feel like we may not be able to make it, the dew comes along and protects, nourishes and hydrates. So my question to you is who are you under? Is it a parent? Is it a spouse? It is a pastor? Is it a mentor? Who is the person who is covering you? I would reason that if you’re currently not under someone, you are more exposed to the stressful conditions of life. You are more susceptible to being scorched. And then the next question I would ask is who are you covering? Is it a spouse? A child? A family member? A friend? Who is the person(s) that is being impacted by the blessings that God has intentionally given you? We all have a role to play here. We should all be covered and we should also be covering.

Grass grows in bunches. On purpose and for a purpose. It has more of a chance to thrive when it’s thick and lush. When grass is scattered, it is easily choked out by the weeds. Life is meant to be done with others. And someone is depending on your dew.

Take time to reflect on how God has blessed you to be a blessing to others. Thank God for all of those that He has entrusted into your care. And appreciate those that He has put over you that have protected you and blessed you when you weren’t even aware.

The Dew of God is Intentional

I always assumed God pressed His “dew button” in the morning and BOOM! There comes the dew. Recently, however, when studying the story of Gideon, the Holy Spirit revealed something to me. 

In the story of Gideon in Judges 6, we see that Gideon asks God for a sign with the dew. Gideon wants to confirm that he truly is hearing from God and so he asks God for confirmation and what he says is this: “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on the ground, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” The next verse starts with “And it was so.” 

Although I’ve read this particular passage so many times, the Holy Spirit highlighted it for me this time. What I recognized is that God doesn’t just press the “dew button” and that there drops the bucket of dew all over the land. That’s not how it works at all. No. God in all of His infinite power and ability, intentionally places the dew where He wants. Think about that for a moment. God decides which blades of grass will get dew and which blades of grass won’t. How do we know? Because of Gideon’s request. Gideon requests that dew be in some places and not in others and God allows for that. That helps us reason and understand that the dew of God is intentional.

This means, friends, that God decides who He will bless and provide for and give sustenance to. It’s not a broad-stroke approach. It’s not a careless pouring down of dew. It’s a thoughtful, deliberate blessing that He gives. In my mind, I think of the infamous Oprah quote “You get a car! And YOU get a car! Everyone gets a car!” God says “I will bless her today.” “I will bless him today.” “I will bless them today.” “I will bless their children today.” And it’s not based on anything WE do. It’s based solely on the goodness of God. It’s because of His great love for us that He decides that He will make the sun rise today and give you breath in your lungs and if He did nothing else all day, you would be blessed just because you have the ability to read this right now when someone else does not.

Anytime you feel that you’re not worthy or that you’re not of value or that you are not loved, take a look outside at the dew in the morning. Understand that God is intentional with all that He does. He didn’t just create you among the masses. He knows you by name. He calls you by name. And He blesses you by name.