In recent months I have been experiencing a lot of care and support. I have also been working at caring for myself during this time of transition in my life. When I came across the phrase “surrendering to God’s providence” I decided to ponder and explore this idea.
Both the first and last words caught my attention. Providence is the protective care of God. Thus, it is God who is protecting us from the sin and despair of this world. It is God’s unconditional love that penetrates the depths of our being protecting us from all that tries to mask our authentic selves.
For me the word surrender has a slightly negative connotation. I always think of surrendering as giving up total control. If this were what God wanted us to do we would no longer have free will. We would essentially be puppets controlled my God. Thinking there must be another definition I went to my handy dictionary and found the following definition “to cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority”. In this definition we are longer resisting God but rather we are submitting to God’s protective care.
It can be hard for us to surrender to God’s providence. We tend to resist God’s love. We tend to resist God’s nudging to take a sabbath, to get out of an unhealthy situation or relationship, to seek spiritual direction, or to experience something new. We tend to resist God’s love, comfort, and support shown to us in a stranger or even a trusted friend. We tend to resist God’s healing love for our soul.
Questions to ponder:
Why do you feel you need God’s protective care today?
What does it mean for you to surrender to God’s providence?
What changes need to happen in yourself so that you are better able to surrender to God’s providence?
No comments:
Post a Comment